Dragon Hearts
by Jet MacLeod
Summary: Set in "Monster Universe." Emma is trying to make a home in Storybrooke and help everyone in it find their happy endings. She never thought that it would make her parents into possible criminals in a missing persons case. As she searches for Maleficent's missing daughter, dangerous things from the past come back and threaten new friendships, relationships, and family relations.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Case**

Emma sat in her office at the sheriff's station reviewing her notes before the next budget meeting. She knew that Regina was a stickler for complete reports and she understood why. She just hated doing them and she couldn't convince her father to do them. She didn't want to ask him to, either. It didn't feel right to her. This was a way for her to learn more about the people, the town, and the history between everyone. Most of the reports were for drunk and disorderlies committed by Leroy, but there were some others. She was elected sheriff and she intended to do a good job. She wanted to do a good job.

It wasn't just for the town. It was for herself. She could see herself settling here. She had stayed at first for Henry and then she learned the truth when she broke the Curse. Now, it actually felt like home. She'd never really had that. The more she learned about the town and the people, the more it became home. The more it became like home, the less she wanted to leave.

She reached across her desk and grabbed her coffee. After two sips it was empty. She stood up to go get more when she was face to face with the Dragon Lady herself.

"Hello, Maleficent, what can I do for you?" Emma asked as she stepped around her to the coffee pot in the middle of the station.

The blond woman didn't move. She just watched Emma as she refilled her mug and started back for her office. Their eyes never breaking contact. Green stared into blue. Emma sat back down behind her desk. She waved at the seat in front of it, hoping that Maleficent would take the hint and take a seat. She did.

"What is it? Did something happen? What do you need help with?" Emma asked her.

"I need to find my daughter."

"Daughter?" Emma questioned as she sat her mug down.

She sat back in her chair, fingers steepled in front of her as she regarded the woman before her. She didn't know what to say or ask, but she needed more information. Realizing that the woman before her didn't know how these things worked in this world, Emma reached over for a form so she could take notes.

"What's your daughter's name?"

"I don't know," Maleficent answered.

"You don't know?"

"No."

"Well that is going to make things a little more difficult."

"I know that you trying to help everyone find their happy endings. I applaud for that, Emma, but your parents took her from me before she was born. She was banished to this land, but I don't know who she is or where she is. And, because Regina brought me back and saved me from Rumple's craziness, I can't leave town to try to find her. I need someone who can. Is that you?"

"I will do what I can, but I wouldn't even know where to start," Emma told her. "I will do what I can, but...you said my parents took her from you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To protect themselves," Maleficent answered.

"From what?"

"The Dark Curse," she replied.

"But, Regina cast it."

"After she took it from me, after I got it from Rumple. I am sure that he had some reasoning for keeping me down. Being a sorceress and a dragon made me powerful. I was no near Rumple as the Dark One, but I could give him trouble. Keeping me under the influence of your parents because they had my egg would keep me in line because he could feed them lies to control me."

"Like his dagger, he used the egg against you," Emma stated.

"He did."

"I'll talk to Mom and Dad and see what they remember. If she's in the Enchanted Forest... I'll do what I can. I know we have ways of getting her back."

"Thank you."

"How old would she be?"

"I would say around your age. She should have hatched shortly before your birth, I believe. Your mother was pregnant with you when they took her from me," Maleficent answered.

"Okay. That gives me something. Would she be a dragon, too?"

"Yes, she would be able to turn, but without the proper teaching..."

"Hey, let's not go there. She's your daughter which means that she's smart. If she changed, she would have hidden until she figured it out. I am sure of it. Don't worry. I'll find her, I am sure."

"Don't promise something that you can't deliver," Maleficent warned her.

"I'll find her. I found Henry in Neverland. I found my way home from the Enchanted Forest. I am sure that I can find an unnamed dragon. I am not saying that it is going to be easy or quick, but I will find her for you."

"How can you be so sure?" Maleficent asked her.

"Because, before I became the sheriff here, I was a bounty hunter in Boston. I found people with a lot less. I was good at it. Seems, I don't like to let things go. I'll put her down as a missing person. This way I can use my time at work to work the case, too."

"Thank you, Emma. I don't know many people that would help me. I don't have many friends...and those that I thought were friends..."

"Hey, I get it. But, this is Storybrooke. It's time to let some things be in the past and most on. I know that you can't leave, but we'll find a way to bring her here if she's in this realm. If she's in the Enchanted Forest though, I'll ask Regina. She might know," Emma told her.

"Find her and I will consider the debt your parents owe me filled."

"And, if I can't?" Emma questioned.

"Then, you'll have to kill me a second time, Princess," she said as she stood.

Before Emma could reply, she was gone in a puff of smoke. Emma swore under her breath and looked down at the page on her desk. She'd found criminals on less, but she honestly had nothing. She hoped that maybe her parents could tell her more.

She grabbed a folder and filed it out. It was now an official Storybrooke Sheriff's office case. In between scrawling something on the forms, she sipped her coffee. She knew that it would be hard, but she liked the challenge and the puzzle behind it. She wondered if Regina would actually help her. She knew that Regina and Maleficent had been friends at one point. Maybe Regina could give her a starting point that wasn't the Enchanted Forest.

As if Regina could read her mind, she heard the door to the station open and close. The click clack of Regina's stilettos could be heard as she neared Emma corner office. Looking up, she saw that she was dressed for a day of meetings and negotiations rather than just working on paperwork, filing out forms, and reading issues and proclamations that needed her signature.

"Madam Mayor," Emma said as she leaned back in her chair again.

"Sheriff Swan," Regina replied.

"Official business?" Emma asked as she reached up for her coffee cup and drank.

Regina sat in front of her desk. Her dark eyes looking over Emma, taking her in and assessing her well-being. Cocking her head, she looked at Emma more fully. Her eyes dilated and her lips pursed up.

"Someone with magic has been here," Regina stated.

"Yeah, so," Emma replied.

"Just stating a fact, Dear."

"So, whatcha need, Regina?"

"I know that you wanted to work on your magic and I agreed to teach you," Regina started.

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, I figured it was the perfect time to start with something a little more in depth than creating fire. Is that something that you are interested in? Or would you like to continue your little parlor tricks?" Regina inquired.

"Well, I did want to know how I could protect the town more. We've seen our share of things that shouldn't be here. But, right now, I have a case that needs my attention."

"A case? I didn't know that something had happened. Is it something that I should be worried about?" Regina questioned and seemed genuinely worried.

"Not yet."

"Emma..."

"Look, it's a case that I am working on. If I need help, I know who to come to and ask. But, first let me do my job. I have some people that I need to question before I start really looking into things. It doesn't affect the town in anyway."

"If you're sure, Sheriff Swan," Regina answered and Emma realized that she was shelving this for now but would totally bring it up later.

"I am."

"Are you going to be able to pick up Henry after school or do you need to work on your case?"

"I should be able to get him."

"Good. I assume that you'll take him back to your parents' apartment to start his homework before both of you come over for a family dinner tonight. We could work on some simple spells after Henry goes to bed, if you wish."

"That sounds good."

"Good. I'll see you around seven o'clock then," Regina stated as she stood up. "And, Sheriff, don't forget that your reports are due to my office by the end of the day. I am not going to let you slack off just because you have a case, unless the case is something of..."

"I'll make sure they get to your office, Regina. No worries. Is there anything else?"

"Did you want to go get lunch at Granny's?"

"I would, but I want to follow up on some things and finish my reports. Wouldn't want them to be late this afternoon, now would I? I'll see you later," Emma told her and watched her walk away.

She didn't know why she just didn't tell Regina about the case yet. But, she really didn't have any information. She was sure that she would be talking to Regina about the case later, but she wanted to have a better understanding of what she was really dealing with and to do that, she needed to talk to her parents.

She picked up the phone and called her very pregnant mother. After they'd gotten home from Neverland and dealt with all its backlash, Snow had gotten pregnant quickly. Honestly it didn't bother Emma as much as she thought it would. They weren't trying to replace her, but they had realized that their daughter wasn't a child. She was an adult. Snow and David what they could for Emma, but she knew they wanted more. She couldn't fault them for that. She'd missed so much with Henry that she demanded so much time with him now to try to make up for it.

Her uneasy alliance with Regina worried her parents, but they let them become friends. Emma told herself it was more for Henry's sake than her own, but she didn't know. Sometimes she wondered if if wasn't because Snow missed her step-mother.

"Hey, Emma, what can I do for you?" Snow answered the phone.

"Can you pick up some lunch from Granny's and come to the station?"

"Sure, I'll be there soon," Snow told her.

"Good, and make sure to get something for Dad, too. I'll be calling him back in from patrol. I need your help with something," Emma replied.

"Okay. Be there soon. Love you, Emma," Snow stated.

"Love you, too, Mom," she responded before hanging up.

She looked down at the notes on her case file. "Snow and Charming were the last to see my egg," Maleficent had told her. She took a deep breath and let it out in a huff.

"Well, this is about to weird, awkward and complicated," Emma said as dropped her pen on the desk and hoped that her mother would understand why she was questioning them both.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Shattered Image**

Emma was sitting at her desk going over expense reports and budget needs for her next meeting with Regina. She was trying to be better and be prepared for the meeting. They were still boring as Hell, but since her realization that Regina was Scylla, Emma had changed how she approached things. She was still the Saviour and people still treated her like she was royalty, something she still wasn't used to and probably never would be, but she just wanted everyone in town to be happy. She had been working with Regina in most situations, but she needed to talk to her "glorious" parents first.

Knowing that they might have had something to do with the disappearance of someone else's child rangled her in a way that she wasn't quite ready for. It was one thing to deal with the fact that her parents really were Prince Charming and Snow White. It was something all together to forgive them for putting her in the wardrobe when Regina cast the Curse. She was still dealing with it and no amount of talking with them was going to make it better. She'd even thought about taking them to see Archie, but she didn't know if they would actually go. To them, they did nothing wrong.

Maybe it was because of them that she didn't keep Henry. She didn't know. She hadn't had good parents really to look up to and she was in jail when she had him, thanks to his thieving father. She was still a child and trying to figure out life. Giving Henry up hadn't been easy, but she knew that she'd made the right choice. That was only confirmed when the Fates landed him on her doorstep on her twenty-eighth birthday. He was smart, happy and hale. Regina was strict but she was a good mother, a mother that Emma would have wanted and a mother that she knew at seventeen she couldn't be.

Over the last two years, she'd gotten better with her responsibilities. Working as Sheriff gave her something to do, but it also gave her a sense of accomplishment. At first it was to spite Regina, but after Neverland, things had changed between them. Things had even gotten a little more blurry after she saw the scar on Regina's arm.

Learning that Regina had done more for her than her own parents was a hard pill to swallow, but she did. She knew that Regina was a very emotional person. She tended to have a knee jerk reaction when she was attacked and Emma couldn't blame her. She'd read Henry's book. Everything that Regina did made sense to her. Was it extreme? Yes, but she couldn't really completely fault Regina for what she did. Rumple played her. Snow betrayed her. Her mother abused her. Leopold raped her. The Genie stalked her. Charming hunted her. The only people that seemed to care about Regina were her weak father and Henry, possibly even Tink.

She knew that Maleficent was her friend at one point. She wondered what that meant now. Would she help her? Or, had too much happened between them? She didn't know the specifics of what happened between them when Regina showed up to get the Dark Curse from Male, but she knew that it was enough for Male to come to Emma for help instead.

Her thoughts were broken by a sharp, happy knock on the metal jamb of the doorway to her office. She looked up to her see her pixied haired mother standing there with take out from Granny's. Her smile was infectious and Emma couldn't help but smile back. She wondered how long that smile would stay.

"I got you a bacon cheeseburger and a salad."

"Ruby must have told you," Emma stated.

"Something about wanting to eat a little healthier," Snow answered as she nodded along.

"Let me call Dad in," Emma replied as she leaned back and pulled out of the walkies from the charging base.

She called Charming back to the station and asked that Tink take over patrol. The little fairy acknowledge the call. Emma stood up and walked around her desk. She went back into the little bullpen across the cells and cleared off another desk. She helped her mother set out the food. Then she went back to office and grabbed her paperwork, some forms, and the tape recorder. She sat the down on one side of the desk, next to her food.

"Hey," David said as he came in and saw the set up.

"Have a seat, please," Emma told them.

She walked to the front door and locked it. She radioed Tink to tell her that she was to take any calls that came in. If for some reason she needed back up, she was to call Emma's cell and not the station or radio. If Tink thought the request was odd, she didn't say. She acknowledged the orders and went on her patrol like normal.

"What's going on, Sweetie?" Snow asked when Emma returned and sat down.

"I had a case come to me this morning."

"About?" David questioned.

"Well, it concerns both of you."

Snow and Charming looked at each other and then their daughter. They could see the worry on her face. Snow cocked her head to the side and tried to figure out what it could be.

"It has been brought to my attention that you have both committed a crime."

Snow gasped.

"Now wait a minute," David started.

"Don't, Dad. This is serious. But, I can't file any charges against you because the crime didn't happen in Storybrooke. That is your one saving grace right now."

"What are we accused of?" Snow asked her voice breaking.

"Kidnapping and possibly murder," Emma replied.

"Who?" Snow inquired.

"Maleficent's child."

"What do you need to know?" Snow questioned as her entire countenance changed.

Emma pointed to the recorder. Snow just nodded. Emma reached over and placed a tape inside it. She pressed the play and record buttons. David looked horrified, but he didn't stop either his wife or his daughter.

"Maleficent came to me this morning and told me that you took her egg from her in the Enchanted Forest," Emma started.

"We did," Snow answered.

"Why?"

"We were...let me start over. We found out that Regina had taken the Dark Curse from her thanks to Rumple who was in our dungeon. He warned us that Maleficent was the only one that could stop Regina. She was the only who was strong enough besides himself. We didn't trust him, so we went to her. Unfortunately for our timing, she'd just laid her egg. She was weak and vulnerable. She couldn't really help us, but we were desperate," Snow stated.

"Desperate? Why were you so desperate that you would still a baby from a new mother?"

"We planned on giving the baby back. We didn't mean for the things that happened to happen. We were trying to protect you," David added.

"Protect me? From what?"

"Regina."

Emma cocked an eyebrow.

"Bullshit. Regina wasn't coming for me. She wanted both of you. Tell me what happened."

"Regina found out that I was pregnant. Rumple had altered the Curse. It said that the product of True Love could break the Curse. Regina wanted you. She came for you the day you were born but your father barely got you into the wardrobe before she could take you."

"I know all that. Wait, you were pregnant when you took her egg. Why? What good could having her egg do for you?"

"We were using it for collateral. And, because we needed a vessel. We figured that we would use the egg, cause Maleficent to stop Regina and then we would return the egg to her. That didn't happen," Snow told her.

"Collateral for what? Me? What happened? Quit trying to be so high and mighty. Just tell me."

"We went to the Tree of Wisdom at Maleficent's request. We didn't know that your mother was pregnant at the time. The tree refused us. Maleficent figured it was because I was pregnant. At the time we didn't understand. Then she told us. Being the product of True Love didn't necessarily make you good. Within you, you had the potential to be the greatest evil ever known to the Enchanted Forest. We didn't want that for you. So, we had to make a deal with the devil to make sure that you wouldn't be tainted by evil," Snow explained.

"What did you do?" Emma quietly asked as she pushed her food away. Suddenly not hungry and very emotional about what her parents were telling her.

"We cast the potential for evil away from you and we put it into Maleficent's egg. The sorcerer sent the egg away. We don't know where it went," David added.

"So, let me get this straight. You found out that I could be the worst things since the Dark One and you basically freaked out. You took someone else's baby and cast my potential for evil into them. Then, some sorcerer got rid of the egg."

"Yes," Snow said as tears started to stream down her face.

"Let me guess, this was to give me my best chance."

Snow couldn't speak. She couldn't take the coldness in Emma's voice. David just hung his head.

"That has to be the most fucked up thing that I've heard since I actually started to believe and realized that I was from a Fairy Tale World. I don't even know what to say to you both right now. You cursed some other child to make sure that I would be good. And, then you lost that child. What did you tell Maleficent when she came looking for her egg? What did you say when you looked into her eyes, mother to mother, and told her what you had done to her child?" Emma asked them and when they didn't answer, she knew. "You've got to be kidding me. You never told her. You just let her wonder. Wow, I really don't know who you are anymore."

"We're your parents," Snow whimpered.

"No, you're not parents. You are just the people that created me. And, I am so ashamed of being your child right now."

She reached over and turned off the recorder. She pushed the hamburger into the trash can by the desk and looked up into their eyes. She shook her head.

"Turn in your gun," she told David.

He looked ashamed and surprised at the same time. Deciding that now wasn't the time to argue, he unholstered his weapon, dropped the clip and cleared it before handing it to Emma. He unclipped his badge and sat it on the desk in front of her.

"Henry will be moving back into Regina's tonight."

"Em-"

"NO! NO! You don't get to say anything. You both disgust me so much right now. After all the spiels about being good and making sure not to cross any lines...you crossed too many. I can't deal with this. I can't arrest you, but don't leave the apartment until I figure out what to tell everyone. You can go to Granny's and that's it. No school. No station. No visits. Consider yourself under house arrest. And, if charges are brought up...don't expect me to be a character witness for you," Emma told them as she stood up securing both David's weapon and badge.

"Emma..."

"Not now. You can go. Just unlock the door. Good bye," she told them as she went back into her office.

She put David's weapon and badge in the gun safe and relocked it. Waving her hands over it, she cast spell that only she could open it. She wasn't going to chance anything anymore.

With her back still them, she picked up her desk phone and called town hall. The phone rang a few times. She had no idea what she was going to say, but she needed to talk to someone and Regina was the only one that she knew wouldn't be singing her parents praises. She'd been strangely unbiased in most of their conversations, and when asked, she said something about trying to be better and letting things go.

"Mayor's office," Regina's secretary answered.

"I need to speak to Madam Mayor. It's Sheriff Swan. It's important."

"Just a second, please."

Emma was put on a brief hold and then Regina picked up the line.

"Emma, what's wrong?"

"I...Scylla...I need you."

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth, then Regina was standing in front of her desk in her office.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Keep Holding On**

Regina reached for her slowly. She didn't want to scare her, but she didn't want her to run either. She knew that Emma could flee just as easily as she could and she really didn't want to waste the energy chasing her all over Storybrooke with magic.

"Emma," she said quietly as her hand touched Emma's shoulder.

The blonde turned around. Tears were in her eyes and Regina acted before she thought. She gathered the other woman in her arms and held her. She didn't say anything for a few minutes. She just let her cry. She knew that a good cry was sometimes needed. Regina just wished that she knew what brought on this bout.

"What happened?" Regina asked and Emma stepped away from her a little, grabbing a walkie.

"Can we go somewhere else? I can't be here right now. I...just anywhere but here," Emma stated.

Regina shook her head. She grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her close to person. Holding Emma tight, she thought about a small cabin on the edge of town. It was a cabin no one really knew about. It was a place of respite for her. She could go there and relax when things became too much and now she was going to share it with Emma.

She lead Emma to a couch and set her down. She could tell that the taller woman was still upset and not quite ready to talk. She made her way into the kitchen and found some tea. She made two glasses and took the time to steep it. She knew that this would allow Emma to calm some what. She'd seen the Saviour upset before and with her magic, unchecked as it was, was dangerous.

"Here, Dear," she told her as she handed her a tea cup and sat down beside her.

"They destroyed a defenseless child to protect me," Emma said.

"Who, Dear?"

"My parents."

"Can't say that I didn't see that coming, but it is big news considering the persona your parents betray to the town. What did they actually do, Emma? What catastrophic thing did they do now?"

"They stole Maleficent's egg."

Regina cocked her eyebrow. She sat her cup on the saucer on the rustic, hand-carved, coffee table in front of the couch and turned to face Emma more closely. She needed to see her eyes. She knew that Emma wasn't really in the habit of lying, but this was devastation wrought by her parents. Once again the bumbling duo has screwed over their daughter.

"They actually stole Mal's egg and survived. That's saying something. Well, what did they do with it?"

"They went to some sorcerer. He banished it or something, but that isn't the point. They stole another being's child to protect me. Why would they do that?" Emma asked rhetorically before jumping up from the couch, moving across the open living room area and started pacing. "Who does that? Who steals a baby to protect their own? Like it wasn't bad enough that they stuffed me into a tree trunk and abandoned me, but now this...I just can't."

"Whoa, slow down, Swan. Let's talk about this. Your parents stole Mal's egg and went to a sorcerer or THE SORCERER?"

"I don't know. Does that really matter in all this? Can semantics are just semantics, Regina?"

"Actually it matters a great deal, especially in the Enchanted Forest. So, try to remember what your mother said. Did she THE SORCERER or a sorcerer?"

"The."

"Well, then...that could complicate things drastically."

"How?"

"Aside from the Dark One, there was only one other individual that had that much power. Most didn't know who he was and had never seen him, just his apprentice. Those who did get to see him rarely lived to talk about it. So why ever your parents sought him out, it must have been something rather large and unyielding. Did they tell you more or did they gloss over it when you asked them?"

"Snow actually told me that it was because the Tree of Wisdom wouldn't tell them how to defeat you. Something about it rejecting them as good people because she was pregnant with me. Maleficent figured it out and told Snow. When they talked more to Rumple, who was in their dungeon..."

"By his own design..." Regina stated.

"Anyway, he told them that being the product of True Love didn't mean that I would be inherently good. I had the potential of being the biggest evil that the Enchanted Forest had ever seen, even bigger than the Dark One."

"Well, there's your answer. Snow couldn't allow that to happen. You being evil would have tainted everything that she stood for and fought for. It would have made you align with me and she couldn't have that. She needed to make sure that you were born good in order to break my Curse thanks to Rumple's little loop hole that he forgot to mention."

"That doesn't excuse it."

"No, Dear, it doesn't. But, I am assuming that they needed a vessel to put the potential in and Mal's egg was the best that they could come up with. Once the transfer was complete, in order to protect the realm, the Sorcerer sent the egg away somehow," Regina speculated.

"Yes."

"And, the case you are working on is finding Mal's egg?"

"Her daughter, yes."

"I see."

"You're being strangely calm about this," Emma stated.

"I always knew that your parents were idiots, Dear. Idiots, but extremely lucky when it came to death and curses. They did manage to dodge me for years and even had you in the process. Were they wrong? Yes. Would you have done the same thing for Henry?"

Emma stopped. That wasn't the point. They kidnapped and possibly destroyed another life for hers. She never asked for that. She never asked to be who she was, she just was and now everyone expected so much from her. Everyone but Regina...she was the only one that just treated her normally.

"What did you do?" Regina asked when she realized why Emma stopped.

"I fired my father and put them both under house arrest. I am supposed to be picking up Henry later to move back in with you. I ... he's safer with you. I can't...I just didn't want him..."

"I understand, Dear. We'll go get him together. As soon as you calm down further," Regina said.

"You just want to go to rub salt in their wounds," Emma replied.

"Can you blame me? Miss high and mighty got told off by her auspicious daughter. I think that I have a reason to gloat. Your mother has been the bane of my existence since she was eight years old. You've annoyed me, but not to the extent she has, Dear. Trust me on that one."

"Plus you want to see the look on their faces when I am with you and I'm not alone. It will tell them I went to you for help and that I couldn't come to them. It'll make her cry."

"And, you care about this, now?" Regina asked her.

"A little."

"Emma, she's still your mother, good or bad. You've formed an attachment to them and I can't blame you for that. No matter what my mother put me through, I still loved her. I sought it. I wanted her acceptance. I craved it. It is what we do as children. You're not a child anymore, but you were deprived of a normal childhood and family situation. I know that I am partially to blame for that and I accept it. Your mother doesn't. She doesn't believe that she did anything wrong and that is where we differ on that. I know it was wrong, but I was so far gone in my hatred and anger that I didn't care. I don't want that for you. As much as I severely dislike your idiot parents, they are still your parents."

"So, you're telling me not to do this."

"No, I am saying that you need time to process this. Take the time. Explain that to them. You need to be able to come to terms with what they did in order to make sure that you didn't become something evil. I would have done the same thing, but I would have had more control over my actions. I can't say that I blame them for wanting to make sure that you were safe, loved, and inherently good. I can blame their methods. And that is what you need to focus on. You aren't innocent either. Just take the time to think and process this. Don't do something that I would do. Anger is hard to come back from," Regina told her.

"What should I do?" Emma asked her.

Regina wanted to roll her eyes. She didn't. She knew that Emma was about to lose it and she was trying to keep her in check. She knew that was one of the main reasons that Emma called her, too.

"Well, first, I think that you need some space. You've already created that with them. Then, you need to think about where you are going to stay while you think."

"I just...figured that..."

"You can stay in the guest room, Emma. I know that you really didn't have anywhere to go, but that just proves that you really didn't think everything through when you told them that you were taking Henry and leaving. You were doing what you thought was best for Henry, but you didn't think it out completely. I get it, but we need to work on that, too."

"I know," Emma said as she hung her head.

"Now, none of that, Swan. You are a powerful woman. You stand up for what you believe in and I applaud you for it...most of the time. But, you need time away from them so you can think. You also need to learn control. Your powers are getting stronger and you don't know how to use them completely, yet. The more emotional you get, the more damage you can do without focus. We need to work on that together, before you do something that you regret and you can't come back from. Right now, you're wounding with words. Let's keep it that way," Regina told her.

"Okay."

"The other thing that we are going to have to do, and yes, I said 'WE' for a reason, is talk to your parents, together and calmly. That will not happen today. We need to figure out what the Sorcerer did and what spell he used against Mal's egg. Knowing that will help us figure out where we take our investigation."

"If we have to leave..."

"We'll find someone to put in charge while we're gone. It doesn't have to be your parents. Granny could handle it if need be. We have choices, Emma. Don't box yourself in."

"I'm sorry," Emma stated.

"For what, Dear?" Regina asked her, standing and moving closer to her.

"For calling you like I did."

"You needed me. There is nothing to apologize for. I am glad that you felt comfortable enough to call me."

"For not telling you about the case earlier," Emma added.

"You needed to look into things and you weren't sure what you were going to find. You also knew that Mal is my friend. You were worried how I was going to react. I get it. I wished that you had told me earlier and we might have prevented the show down with your parents, but I fear that I might have had a worse reaction to their news had I been there."

"Well, there's that..."

"And, you're still trying to find Mal's daughter. Don't give up on that. You don't give up. Unfortunately, that is a Charming trait that you can't just get rid of. Henry has the same one. So, let's clean ourselves up and go back into town. It's almost time for school to get out."

"You'll go with me to get Henry, right?"

"Yes, Dear," Regina answered.

"And, to my parents?"

"Yes, Dear."

"You won't make a scene, will you?" Emma asked her.

"No more than you have already done. I might give them a piece of my mind, but I will do that while you are helping Henry pack. Just remember to pack your own bag."

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, Emma. We'll get through this like everything else...one day at a time. Now, let's go because I have a feeling that you are going to want comfort food for dinner. Which means that I'll be making my lasagna and it takes a while to bake."

"Mmm...lasagna..."

"What is it about you and your stomach, Swan?" Regina questioned in disbelief.

"What? I didn't eat lunch. I'm hungry."

"Okay, so we'll stop at Granny's for some food first. It's at least near the bus stop for Henry. Come on, now. Let's clean you up and go."

"Okay," Emma replied, finally calmed down enough to be in public again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Getting Henry**

Emma was standing outside of Granny's sipping on a hot chocolate while she was waiting on Henry to get off the bus. Regina was still inside handling their bill. No one it seemed gave them a second thought on being together, reasoning that it must either be town business or Henry and they were right.

She was drained, but she knew that she had to deal with Henry and her parents. She wasn't looking forward to it, but she was glad that Regina was going with her. She let out a sigh as the bus pulled up and Henry got off. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy to talk to him about this, but she would tell him just enough.

"Hey, Ma," he called as he crossed the street to where she was standing.

"Hey, Kid," she replied.

"Snack and a milkshake?" he asked with a big smile.

She smiled back and nodded. It would do her good. She needed to spend time with the kid and Regina before she went back to her parents apartment. Henry would keep her grounded and Regina would stop her from blowing up at them.

"Sure, Kid. Your Mom is inside. Let's go."

Henry looked at her strangely but shrugged it off as he followed her inside. They sat down at a booth. Ruby came over quickly and took their order. She was flitting off to the counter when Regina came out of the back. She cocked her head at them but didn't question it as she came over and sat down.

Ruby came back quickly with two pieces of cherry pie, two vanilla milkshakes and a cup of coffee. Regina quirked her eyebrow at Emma as the coffee was placed in front of her, but she didn't say anything. Henry enthusiastically took a big sip of his milkshake and then dug into his pie before Regina could stop him. When he looked up at her with a big cherry grin, she couldn't help but smile back.

"Pie, Miss Swan?"

"He said his was hungry," she replied.

"I meant for you," Regina countered.

"What's wrong with pie?"

"You just finished your lunch," Regina stated.

"Dessert?"

Regina just shook her head at the both of them as she sipped her coffee. Mother and son devoured their pie and drank their milkshakes in record time. As they fought off their "ice cream" headaches, Regina motioned for Emma to tell Henry what was going on and why they were both there. Emma nodded.

"Hey, Kid," she started.

"Yeah, Ma?"

"When we go back to Snow's in a few minutes, I want you to go pack some bags."

He crooked his head at her as he asked, "Why?"

"Cause we're both going to be staying with your Mom for a while."

"But..."

"I figured that you would want to be back in your own room."

"I do, but..."

"Listen, something happened today and I want you to go stay with your Mom. I'm coming with you. I thought that you would be happy," Emma said.

"What happened?"

"We'll talk about it later, okay? I just need you to promise that you'll go in and pack. We'll talk about it all you want when we get back to your Mom's. Just do this for me, okay?" Emma asked.

"Promise?"

"Promise," Emma stated.

"Is this part of Operation: Dragon?"

"Sure, Kid," Emma replied as she saw the look on Regina's face. "It is."

The look she gave Regina back let the older woman know that they would talk about it later. Regina gave her a slight nod and let it go. She was more worried about how Henry was going to react when they got back to her house than she was about some "operation" that he thought they were working. She was also trying to keep herself and Emma calm, knowing that either one of them could blow up on Snow and Charming depending on what they said once they arrived. She was doing her best to stay even keeled as it was. She didn't need to go off half-cocked when they got to the apartment. She sipped her coffee and waited for Emma and Henry to be ready.

"Ready?" Emma asked them.

Henry nodded as he was wiping his mouth. Regina nodded and pulled out some money. Emma waved her off as she pulled out her own wallet. Leaving some money on the table and making sure that Ruby saw it, Emma stood up. They made their way out of the diner and down the street to the little building of apartments that Snow and Charming lived in.

As they walked up the flights of stairs to the apartment, Regina could hear Emma inhaling and releasing deep breaths. She reached out and grabbed her wrist. Emma instantly calmed. She turned to face Regina, green eyes blazing.

"Not now."

"I know," Emma replied as they found themselves in front of the door.

She hesitated as she reached up to knock on the teal colored door. The number 3 mocking her as her hand hung, fisted, in the air. Henry just stepped around her and opened the door because he knew that it wasn't locked. Emma just stood there dazed for a moment or two.

Finally catching her bearings, she stepped inside. She saw as Henry waved at Snow and David before heading upstairs into the loft to get his things. She turned to face them. She could tell that Snow had been crying and David had been trying to console her, but they were both still upset from there meeting with Emma earlier.

"Emma..." Snow started.

She raised her hand and Snow stopped. She shook her head and willed the tears not to fall. She turned back to Regina, finding her a few steps behind her.

"Get your things," Regina said quietly.

Emma nodded and went up the stairs to the loft with Henry. Regina watched her go. Snow and David just stared at her as stood in the apartment. No one said anything for a few moments.

"Why are you here?" Snow finally asked when she couldn't take the tension in the room anymore.

"I came to support Emma," Regina said with a slight smirk on her face.

"Why?"

"Because she asked for me to come with her. She needed someone to talk to, someone she trusted, and for some reason that is me right now. So forgive me if I want to help her."

"Why?" David asked this time.

"We all know that Emma has magic and it's very powerful. She doesn't have control of it, yet. She's angry and frustrated. She's also hurt. Those are very powerful emotions, and when emotions power magic, it can be dangerous. I didn't want her coming her and hurting you or possibly someone else because they set her off. I also didn't do it for you. I was doing it for Henry, so he wouldn't have a reason to fear his other mother," Regina told them, trying to keep her glibness to a minimum.

"She's scared of us?" Snow questioned.

"I don't know. You would have to talk to her about that. However, I can't believe that you would be so foolish as to not only kidnap Maleficent's egg, but you took it to the Sorcerer as well. He might not be as crazy as Rumple, but he does things as he sees fit and there is no one that can stand up to him. No one, not even Rumple and you just handed him this egg to trade Emma's potential. I've done some have crazed things in my day, but even I wasn't that foolish."

"You killed your own father," David stated.

"I did. And, I regretted it for years. That is my own personal hell to live with. I have no family here, save Henry. But, you stole a child, a baby from its mother and had a curse put upon it. I would do anything to protect Henry, so I get why you did it. That doesn't stop the pain that it is causing Emma. She is the cause of the kidnapping. She blames herself for this other child's parentless life. You not only took a child from its mother, you took a mother from its child. And, you are damned lucky that Maleficent went to Emma about this and not me, Rumple, or took it upon herself," Regina told them.

"Has she told Henry?" Snow asked.

"Not yet. I think that she is still trying to figure what to tell him. He's built this whole romanticized version of all of us and she doesn't want to break his heart like you've broken hers. I don't know if I would tell him the truth in its entirety, but I would tell him enough to understand why she is upset and why she is pursuing this case so hard."

"She isn't going to give up until she finds that egg, is she?" David asked.

"She is your daughter."

"I want to help her," David stated.

"I think you've done enough," Regina told them quietly. "Don't you?"

"How dare you..." David started, but Snow stopped him with a hand to his arm. "She's right."

Regina was taken aback by Snow's agreement but said nothing.

"We need to give Emma space. She needs to see this through. We'll give her whatever she wants or needs, Regina," Snow told her.

"You can start by telling me exactly what the Sorcerer's apprentice said in way of spell on Maleficent's egg," Regina said.

Snow nodded and pointed to the living room area. Regina acknowledged her but sat that table instead, opting to put a barrier between them. Snow and David sat opposite her and held hands on top of the table. Regina tried to not look angry and perturbed by their actions, but she wasn't sure that she was succeeding. She really didn't care, but it was the thought that counted.

"I don't remember it exactly," Snow stated.

"What about it do you remember?"

"We didn't know what he was doing until he muttered something about a distant land..." David started.

"And, you didn't think to ask him what he was going to do before he started doing magic on your unborn child and the egg you brought him?"

"I...we..." Snow stammered.

"You what? Forgot that all magic comes with a price? How could you both be so damn naive? You've dealt the Rumple. We both know that Imp doesn't do anything that doesn't help him. Why would you think that the Sorcerer would be any different?" Regina hissed the questions at them.

"I tried to get the egg as it was falling through the portal, but..."

"There was no way that you would have been able to stop it once the words were spoken. The Apprentice knew that. There is more to this than removing Emma potential for evil and I want to know what it is. However, the Apprentice wasn't part of my curse...so...it is going to make things difficult for me to find out what his motives were. If I knew that, I would know where to tell Emma to start looking," Regina mused.

"Do you think that the child ended up here?" Snow inquired.

"Here?" Regina asked.

"In this realm, not Storybrooke," Snow answered.

"It is a possibility, but we have no way of finding out. It isn't like she would have a name that we know. And, there is no way that she would know who she was to us or even that Storybrooke existed. This is going to be a difficult case.

"I hope your comfortable here," Regina told them.

"She told you?"

"Enough and about your house arrest."

"Wait, I think I remember what he said."

"What was it?"

"Something about Darkness from my womb to darkest tomb..."

"Anything else?" Regina asked.

"He said something about distant shores and shadows," David added.

"Then, there was something about magic not being able to harm the innocence of mortal's born..."

"Okay, that's good. I'll see what I can find out, but I am going to stay away from Rumple. He can't help us and frankly, I don't want him knowing that there is someone out there that could be darker than him."

Emma and Henry came down stairs with a couple of bags. They stopped when they saw Snow, Charming, and Regina sitting at the table together talking. Regina motioned for them to be quiet and turned to smile at Emma and Henry.

"Ready?" Regina asked them.

"Yeah," Emma stated.

"Henry, go hug your grandparents and tell them bye for now," Regina instructed him.

Henry did as he was bade and then met his mothers at the door. Regina turned and whispered in Emma's ear as she opened the door and ushered Henry out. Emma nodded and turned around to find her parents behind her, standing there, holding each other up, and waiting to see what she had to say.

"Be careful," Snow stated.

"I will be."

"We love you," David added.

"I know."

"We'll be here if you need us," Snow said.

"I know."

"Don't forget your light, Emma."

"I'll send Ruby or Tink by with some supplies if you get low, but don't leave the apartment."

"What about..."

"I'll deal with it."

"Okay," Snow answered as she squeezed Charming's hand harder.

"I'll see you later," Emma replied quickly and turned back for the door.

"Just remember that we love you," Snow stated.

"Yeah, I know," Emma said as she closed the door behind herself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Welcome Home Dinner**

They arrived at the Mayoral mansion a little while later. Henry ran up the stairs to his old room. He seemed to be happy to be back in his own bed. Emma knew that she was happy to have a bed to herself again.

"Go on up and unpack. I'll be in the kitchen. It'll be okay," Regina told her.

Emma nodded as she slowly moved up the stairs. She shifted the bag on her shoulder as she approached a door that she hadn't seen in a few weeks. Looking at it now, it didn't look so monstrous, but it still meant that it was a sanctuary for her. She went inside the pale green room and started to put her things away. The entire time she was thinking. She couldn't help it. She huffed and finally sat down on the bed.

She fell back on the bed. Looking at her hands, she wondered what she had actually been capable of or if she could still be evil. The way that it sounded from her parents they had removed the potential of her being evil entirely. She wasn't so sure. Her life had been shit, that much was true, but she never deliberately tried to hurt anyone. She wondered if that is what they meant. She did things...reacted mostly, but she never actually hurt someone outright.

She didn't know how much time had passed when Regina knocked on the door. She grumbled a response and Regina came into the room. The first thing that Regina noticed when she entered was the lack of unpacking that Emma had actually accomplished.

"The lasagna is the oven," Regina told her.

"How long?"

"Until?"

"Dinner," Emma stated.

"We've got time. Are you still upset, Emma? Do we need to do something to help get your mind off it all?" Regina offered.

"Have I been up here staring at the ceiling the entire time," Emma replied.

"I would say at least twenty to thirty minutes."

"Great," Emma stated, but she made no move to get up from her position.

"Are you that depressed, Dear?" Regina asked her.

"Yes...no...yes...maybe," Emma replied.

"Do you need me to do anything?"

"Don't let me ... "

"Don't let you what?"

"Don't let me blow up or anything," Emma stated.

"Blow up?"

"From magic," Emma said.

"Do you need to expel some energy, Dear?"

"Yes...no...I don't know."

"I can't help you unless you let me. This isn't something I can just do for you, Emma. You have to want to do it consciously. If you can't do that, then I'll have to find a way to bind you. Trust me. I don't want to do that. It isn't pleasant for the bindee," Regina told her.

"I have magic because I am product of mortal true love," Emma started.

"Yes, Dear, we already know that."

"But, because of that, I had a fifty-fifty chance of being darker than the Dark One."

"Yes, Emma."

"I helped you in the precint that day, didn't I?"

"When we used Jeffereson's hat?"

"Yeah," Emma replied.

"You jump started my magic, but I could tell that you had power."

"Your mother tried to take my heart and couldn't."

"I know. She is...well...she wasn't the kindest person, but be glad that she couldn't take it because it hurts. But, that was when you know that love was the strongest magic and you possessed it, wasn't it?" Regina asked her.

"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't know what it meant. It sure as hell perplexed Snow, too, so I guess that is what confuses me," Emma stated.

"What's that, Dear?" Regina asked her as she moved to sit down on the bed beside her when she realized that this conversation was far from over.

"How can Snow be so cavalier about certain things and not about others. It's like she loathes magic, except when it benefits her. She harps about doing the right thing and then she goes and banishes a baby to another land after filling it with all my potential evil. She is walking contradiction and the town loves her for it. I am not sure what to do with all that. She's my mother and I am supposed to trust her impeccably, but I can't."

"No one said that you had to trust him completely, Emma. She is your mother and you love her regardless of what she's done. The fact that she did what she thought was right to protect you means that she loves you. You can be upset with her, but you can't say that you wouldn't have done the same thing in her place. I know that had I been able to do something like that, I would have."

"That doesn't take the weight off me."

"I am not saying that it will, Emma, but you can't carry it around with you all the time. Right now, we need to focus on what we're going to tell Henry and how we are going to find Mal's daughter. Focus on that. We can focus on your parents after that and we will, together, because like you said, I don't want you blowing up the town or something," Regina stated with a grin on her face.

"You're right. Let's go get the kid and tell him. I want to get it over with," Emma told her.

"No, first thing that we are going to do is...well, you are going to shower," Regina said. "Don't look at me like that. Go take one in my shower. It will be more relaxing. I'll get some of your clothes for you. Towels are just inside in the cabinet to the left. You need to calm down."

"I know that."

"Emma, your vibrating. You're building up more energy and you need to just be calm and still. I know that is hard for you, but you have to try."

"I will."

"Go on then. I'll go check on Henry and his homework. You shower. We'll both talk to him at dinner."

"Okay."

An hour later, Emma found herself staring in Regina's vanity mirror. Clothes had been laid out on the counter and she was still wrapped in a towel. Her eyes seemed dull and her body tired. She knew that Regina was right. She had to let go of this for now. She couldn't carry the burden of her parents sins and hope that she would be able to do her job. She dressed and combed out her hair, opting to pull it up into a ponytail when she was done.

She made her way downstairs and into the kitchen. Henry was at the bar working on his math homework while Regina was on the other side of the island preparing a salad and dressing for dinner. Emma dropped heavily onto the stool next to Henry. She looked over at his homework and then at what Regina was doing.

"Can I help?" she asked no one in particular.

"No, thanks, Ma. I got this. It's easy," Henry told her.

She ruffled his head and then looked up at Regina. The older woman smiled at their interaction, knowing that a few weeks ago it would have caused a jealous reaction. Having Emma there with her seemed to make Henry happier. She looked up into Emma's eyes and saw the familiar green again.

"No, Emma, I'm actually done. Henry, go wash up. You can help me move everything to the table, Emma," she softly commanded as she sat down the utensils she was working with.

Henry jumped up and went to the downstairs half bath. Emma looked at Regina expectantly, who handed her a bunch of trivets and pointed to the table. Henry came back in and grabbed the silverware and plates to set the table. Regina followed him in with the lasagna and set it on the mats that Emma had placed on the table. Regina went back to the kitchen and retrieved the salad and vinaigrette that she'd made for the salad.

Regina served them and they all began to quietly eat. Henry watched them both. He could tell that there was something that they needed to say but they seemed wary of how to tell him. He'd seen a lot in his few short years, but he wished that they would all learn to trust him. He might not be big and strong, but he was smart and resourceful. He usually found a way out of every situation that he found himself in, with the exception of Pan. Pan kept changing the rules and the possibilities, but in the end, he fought back the only way he knew how...with love.

"Whatever it is, just tell me," he demanded between bites.

Emma mouth fell open and her hand dropped to her plate. Her fork hitting the china before she could stop herself. Regina gave them both a disapproving look before grabbing her napkin and wiping her mouth.

"Your mother and I found out some information this morning that concerned your grandparents," Regina started.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Henry questioned.

"It can be really bad, yes, depending on who you ask."

"What did they do?" Henry inquired looking straight at Emma.

"Well..."

"Just tell me. I can take it. I need to know so I can help," Henry added.

"They kidnapped a very young child from its mother before I was born. They took it to the Sorcerer and his apprentice cast a spell upon it. The baby was then sent away never to be seen again," Emma stated.

"They kidnapped someone?"

"Yes," Emma replied.

"An innocent?"

"Yes," Emma stated.

"Why?"

"Because they were told something and it frightened them. This was just part of the plan that Rumple had in order to set up the Curse. By the time you parents had secured the baby and lost it, Rumple had been imprisoned by them. He knew what was going to happen with the Curse and that it was going to bring everyone in its path to the Land without Magic. He could foresee many outcomes, but he didn't know which one was the right one. He took a gamble and frightened your grandparents. Of course it worked because of how gullible they are, but..." Regina started to explain.

"What did he tell them?"

"It isn't what he told them. They were worried about your mother and her birth as it pertained to me and our on going war. He needed to make sure that certain things were put into motion. He needed to make sure that I would act and that I would have reason to do so. He sent your grandparents on a fool's errand to the Tree of Wisdom to get their answers. Unfortunately, he didn't know that Snow was pregnant. The Tree refused to answer because your mother was growing inside of Snow."

"I don't get it."

"It turns out that the product of True Love can go one of two way, really good or really bad," Emma stated.

"And, they didn't know that Snow was pregnant?" Henry asked.

"Not until the Tree refused to the answer them. Then, Maleficent, who took them there, realized that Snow was with child. Having just laid her dragon's egg, herself, she pleaded with Snow to get the Curse back from me. Mal was in no shape to take me on at the time. Instead, Snow took Mal's baby and went to the Sorcerer," Regina stated.

"What spell did he cast?" Henry questioned.

"He pulled out the potential darkness from me and put it in the baby. Then as soon as the transfer was complete, he sent the baby, Mal's child, through a portal to God knows where. Regina cast the Curse and I was put in the wardrobe a few months later."

"They stole a baby and cast it out with Ma's darkness?" Henry rephrased trying to understand.

"They did."

"But, why?"

"Because they didn't want me to be worse than Regina or Rumple."

"But, you aren't," Henry stated.

"I know."

"But, you could have been?"

"Possibly, we just don't know. The spell that he cast wasn't very strong, but it was enough to pull the potential darkness out of Emma at the time. Henry, you see, the power love is a double edged sword. It can be used for good or evil. It is all a matter of perspective. But, the products of True Love, like Emma, well, they can be stronger than the Dark One. I think that Rumple was afraid of that and set things in motion to make sure that Emma was strong, but not stronger than he was. But, then again, he was hell bent on finding Baelfire," Regina explained.

"So, Maleficent wants you to try to find this child?"

"She does," Emma replied.

"Okay," Henry replied.

"Okay?"

"Okay. I mean, you are the Saviour and you are supposed to help everyone get their happy endings. Maleficent lost hers and you are trying to get it back. Snow and Charming have you back, so they have theirs. But, why was grandpa home so early and without his badge?"

"I might have suspended him pending the case with Maleficent's daughter," Emma stated.

"Hmm...I guess it shows that you are impartial in the town's business, but it was hard for them to take."

"It was."

"I get it. You need space with them because you feel guilty. That makes you the hero still. I am sure that they feel guilty about what they did, Ma, but they don't know how to fix it. You'll figure it all out, but I guess until then we'll be living here as a family of sorts," Henry stated.

"Yeah, Kid, we will," Emma replied surprised by Henry quick acceptance.

"That's cool," he stated. "Mom, can I have some more? I'm really hungry."

"Sure, Henry," Regina told him as she dished him up some more. "Did you finish your homework?"

"I only have to read a chapter or two of our book before bed," he replied.

"Well, finish up and get ready for bed then. Emma and I will be up to tuck you in. Emma, will you help me clean up the table?"

Emma just nodded as she stood up and started gathering plates. She followed Regina into the kitchen and they left Henry to eat his second piece alone. Regina started putting things away while Emma started doing the dishes.

"Told you he would understand," Regina stated.

"Yeah, you did."

Henry came beebopping in with his plate. He rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher. Hugging both of his mothers, he headed for the stairs.

"Goodnight, Moms," he said with a cheeky grin.

"We'll be up in a few," Regina reminded him.

"How did we get so lucky?" Emma asked.

"I would say the genes, but look at his family tree. An Imp for a grandfather, the bumbling idiots on the other side. It's amazing what you and Neal produced. But, Henry gives credence to the whole 'nature versus nurture' theory, but then again, so do you, Emma. You grew up without all of this, without magic, and without knowing your true potential. And, yet, you managed to make that little boy. He was the beginning of you giving everyone their happy endings," Regina told her.

"He was, wasn't he?"

The finished up the dishes and headed upstairs to make sure Henry was in bed. After tucking him in, they headed to their respective rooms. Emma walked into the pale green room, Regina was waiting at the door, when she spotted the familiar red, silk pajamas. She turned back to look at Regina and just stared into her eyes.

"Good night, Emma," Regina told her as she waved her hand in front of the doorway and headed for her own room.

"Good night, Regina," Emma said back to her quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Being Sheriff**

Emma sat at her desk. She was reviewing everything that she had so far for the case, which wasn't much. She'd called Mulan and Tink in early that morning. It had been a necessary evil that she needed to address and she wanted to get it done before word got out too much. She was sure that her parents wouldn't say anything, but it would be obvious that David hadn't gone into work that morning. The other obviousness would happen over the next few days as Snow and Charming wouldn't be seen in town often. A few trips to Granny's and Emma not joining them would cement that there was a problem in Charming household.

Mulan sat in front of her, still getting used to her new clothes, but like Emma kept sporting a leather jacket. Tink had opted to wear the actual uniform of the Sheriff's office. She was the only one who did. Mulan carried her sword and the required pistol, on opposite hips. Sometimes she even slung her sword over her back. Emma didn't care too much. They weren't a traditional town, but Mulan felt more comfortable with her sword, so Emma allowed it.

"Where's David?" Mulan asked asked soon as she saw that he was missing from this meeting.

"He's been relieved of duty for a while."

"Why?" Tink asked as she watched Emma's face.

"It's a long story, and we don't have the time right now to deal with it. I need for both of you to step up and do a little more for me. I have a case that I am working on, so I need you two manning the station and working patrol. Mulan, see if you can get some of the Merry Men to help patrol. I can't really pay them, but I am sure that we can work out something with Regina. I know that this is odd and David would be helping out, but he can't right now."

"They'll help, but I don't think that they'll worry about the money," Mulan answered.

"Good."

"Why can't David help us?" Tink pushed again.

"Because he's involved with the case," Emma finally told her. "And, as such, I've put him on house arrest. He can only go to Granny's."

"Should we be watching him?" Mulan questioned.

"If you do, I only want the two of you doing it. I don't want it getting out for that he's there because of a case. I don't need the town looking too hard into this because that will cause a possible shit storm. As soon as I can clear him, I'll let him do whatever he wants. Until then, his apartment and Granny's are the only two places that he should be. Got it?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Tink replied.

"And, after you clear him?" Mulan inquired.

"I am not sure that I'll let him come back so quickly."

"Whatever you think is best, Emma," Mulan replied.

"It wasn't an easy decision, trust me. Mulan, you're in charge of patrols and all in coming calls and such. Tink, I want you running the station and checking up on all the Lost Boys. They trust you and they know you. You also know what they went through," Emma told them. "And, I'll mostly be working the case."

"What case?" Tink asked.

"It's a priority case. I'll be working with the mayor on it, so don't be so surprised to see her here often. Other than that, you don't need the details. I hate for it to be that way, but the case is of a sensative nature and I don't want to start something in town if I don't have to. Putting David and Snow under house arrest is going to cause enough of a stink once word spreads about it. I need your help with damage control."

"If anyone asks?" Mulan probed.

"Just tell them the truth. It is because of an ongoing investigation and when the Sheriff's office is ready to release a statement we will. Until then, you ask that they all let us do our job. If that isn't enough, tell them to go take it up with the mayor," Emma stated.

"Well, I'll go patrol then," Mulan said and got up and left.

Tink sat there and stared at Emma. They had gotten closer since getting back from Neverland, but even Tink could tell that something was majorly wrong in the state of Storybrooke. Emma was hiding cases. Charming and Snow were under house arrest. Regina assisting on the case. It could only mean one of two things. It was about the town and Charming really fucked up or it had something to do with Henry.

"You're circling the wagons, Emma. Why? What happened?" Tink asked her.

Emma looked up from her papers to see that Tinkerbell hadn't left. She was staring at Emma with her big hazel eyes. She knew that Tink would be the one to see through everything and call her on her bullshit, but she hadn't expected it so quickly.

"Still watching all those John Wayne movies?"

"Don't change the subject and there is nothing wrong with Westerns. They are very entertaining and better than all those bloody pirate movies. Besides, I know pirates. I don't know any cowboys," Tink replied.

"Then read Louis L'amour," Emma said.

"Emma."

"Tink."

"You don't have to tell me what the case is about but it is obvious stressing you out. If you need to talk, I'm here. You don't have to do this alone."

"Actually, I do. This is part of being the Saviour. I'm helping everyone get their happy endings."

"So, you're gonna talk to Blue about my wings?" Tink questioned.

"Blue doesn't have wings here, Tink."

"Not the point."

"I'll talk to her. You've done enough in my book to get them back, but I am not a fairy. At the least, she should give you back your wand."

"I'll look after the station. I won't ask more about the case, but tell me two things. Can you do that?" Tink asked her.

"Sure," Emma said as she put down her pencil.

"Does it involve Henry?" Tink asked.

"No."

"Is the town in danger?"

"No."

"Then, you'll have my cooperation."

"Thank you."

"Is Henry still staying with you and your parents?" Tink inquired as she stood up to go out into the small station's bullpen.

"No, he's back at Regina's. So am I. Anything else?"

"Where's Hook staying?"

"At the wharf, I think. I don't know. He's not my problem at the moment."

Tink just nodded and left Emma's office. Emma could tell that the fairy wanted to know more, but she was giving Emma time to process things. Knowing that David was involved meant that Tink was going to be overly curious. Emma knew that it meant that she would have to take all the case files and research about Mal's case with her when she left the station, no matter where she was going. Tink as a naturally curious person, sometimes, too curious. It would only be a matter of time before word got out and all the amature sleuths in town decided to help.

Normally she would go to Snow and Charming for help on a case, but she couldn't. They were suspects and had already admitted to the crime. Sure the crime wasn't committed in Storybrooke, but that didn't make it any less disturbing. She sighed as she looked down at the almost blank page. She'd only been able to add a little bit of information from her parents. Their confession only cemented what Maleficent told her. They had stolen her egg. It didn't tell her where the egg went and if the girl inside it was still alive.

"Coffee?" Regina asked as she sat down in front of her.

"Thanks," Emma replied as she took the cup from Regina's hand.

"How did they take it?"

"Tink's curious. Mulan just took her orders and ran with them. I told her to bring in some of the Merry Men if needed. I know I can't afford any more deputies, but she doesn't think that they'll worry about getting paid. I didn't know what else to do. We're already thin with David on board, now pulling myself out to work the case..."

"It's okay. I'll talk to the Council. We'll find the money or someway to compensate them for their time. I'm sure a few meals at Granny's or reduced rates for lodging at the Major Oak would be suffiecent. If not, we'll find the money, Emma. Don't stress about the town. That's my job."

Emma grinned. She knew that Regina was right. She did worry about the town. She wanted to make sure that everyone was safe and care for, but Emma knew that if something were to happen, Regina would be right beside her fighting back. The town was starting to see that. And, the fact that Snow actually supported her when she ran for mayor last election helped her with the people. They were starting to see what Regina had been doing for them all this time, keeping the safe, happy and protected from the outside world. Sure, she cursed them to be there, but she had been caring for them regardless of that. And, that Emma kept going to Regina for magical help hadn't escaped the town. She was going to Regina and not Rumple. That got Regina more brownie points.

It also didn't hurt that Regina's best friend was Kathryn, or Abigail, Midas' daughter. Kathryn supported Regina and helped her run her campaign. She also advocated for the banishment of King George or Albert Spencer because he didn't care about the town. Without having to worry about Spencer or Snow, Regina garnered the support of all the houses of royalty from the Enchanted Forest. The people couldn't help but fall in line. But, Regina had proven herself over and over to them in Emma's eyes.

She did everything in her power to bring Snow, Emma, Mulan and Aurora back to Storybrooke. She'd fought a wrathe. She'd fought against Rumple. She'd stopped the Failsafe. She'd fought alongside the Saviour in Neverland. Tales of her deeds had been spreading through the town and Emma knew that the people were finally seeing the woman that Emma knew. Hell, she'd even fought her own mother to protect the town and her son. Regina had proven her allegiance to the town and to Emma. She knew that it should have been enough, but the people could still the Evil Queen when they saw her. It was going to be a slow a process and she hoped that this case would prove that Regina wasn't the only one who made monumental mistakes back in the Enchanted Forest.

"I know this is hard for you, but we need to go to vault to do some research. I don't think that your computer is going to help us right now. Unless you know something that you haven't told me," Regina stated.

"No, you know everything that I do."

"Your parents might have remembered some of the words to the spell. I need to do some research to see if it will help me locate where the egg might have been sent. Do you have anything else to go on at the moment?"

"No, just possibly Maleficent's DNA, but I doubt that it will find a hit. If the girl wasn't in the system, she won't have a profile. I only had a profile because Neal got me arrested. So, unless she's acted on this darkness inside her, she is still a ghost to us. That is, even if she is here," Emma stated.

"Well, why don't we go see Mal and get a swap. We can get Whale to run the DNA tests for us. I know it doesn't seem ideal, but we both know that the DNA will help us rule anyone out as well as find someone. Do you want to do that and then meet me at the vault? Or, do you want to go with me?"

"I don't want to deal with Whale if at all possible. That man is insufferable. And, he can't seem to let it go that he had sex with my mother. Sure, it was a one night stand, but he likes to rub it in David's face."

"Because Whale is an asshole. He's really Dr. Frankenstein. Do you really expect anything more from a man who tried to be a god?" Regina asked her.

"No, I guess not. I'll see if I can find someone else at the hospital to help me. I don't want him on the case or Doc for that matter."

"What's wrong with Doc?"

"He is the personal physician to my parents," Emma stated.

"That doesn't mean that he can't be impartial. Give the dwarf a chance. At least he isn't a drunkard like Leroy. Go see Doc. He'll help if only to help clear Snow and Charming. Just don't tell him why you need it. Tell him it's for the Lost Boys. He won't know the difference until it comes back as female," Regina told her.

"That is actually a plausible story. I'll go see Mal and then meet you at your vault. Hopefully, this won't take too long."

"Take your time, Dear. There is no need to rush things. I'll be at the vault trying to figure out where the Sorcerer sent the child. It'll all work out, Emma."

"You promise?" Emma asked her with childlike wonder.

"It always does somehow with your parents, so I assume it will for you as well. You came here after all to break the curse and now we are sharing Henry. Things will get better. They have to, right?" Regina asked as she stood up to leave.

"Yeah, I guess they do. Happy endings and all. Let's do this," Emma told her as she stood up, gathered her files and her keys.

They walked out of the station together. After going their separate ways, Emma headed to the small cottage that Maleficent was living in. She hoped that they would find something with her DNA. It was a long shot, but it was better than nothing at this point. And, that is what she had, a whole lot of nothing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Deconstructing the Spell**

Regina had books spread all over her office in her "twined" office in her vault. Magical books, books of realms far and wide, and books about the Sorcerer. She wasn't getting very far and she was getting frustrated. Her skin itched and she knew that she would soon need a break. If it was only to release some pent up energy, then she would. She wanted to wait for Emma, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could wait. Being this close to so much magic and spells drove her inner magic nuts. She knew that Emma didn't have that problem because her magic was inherent, but Regina wasn't that lucky.

She knew that it could be dangerous, but she felt like she owed Mal. She had been best friend and a lover at one point. They'd hurt each other, but she had done worse. She threatened Mal's pet unicorn to get the curse. She hadn't listened to Mal's warnings either. Even in her grief, Mal tried to stop her. She wondered why Maleficent still cared about her so much. She wanted to talk to her, but she didn't want to think that she had something before she actually did. Going to Mal now would give her false hope. She was sure that Emma would tell her that she was helping on the case and that should be enough for now.

She grabbed another leather bound volume. This one was red with gold lettering on the outside. It was writing in Fae. She doubted that Emma would be able to read it if she tried. She knew that Emma had no formal magical training and if it hadn't been for Rumple and Cora's abusive and negative reinforcement tactics in teaching, then Regina wouldn't be as learned as she was. She sighed as her eyes skimmed the page. She blew some of the dust of the pages when she realized that she could only read half of words.

The dust floated up into the air. She blinked. She should have known better. She breathed in the ancient magic and waited. It filled her up, but she didn't feel the normal heavy sting and itch for release. She felt light and comforted.

"Regina?" Emma asked, breaking her concentration and her reverie.

"Sorry," Regina said, shaking her head slightly to break the magical fog.

"You okay?"

"Just old magic. I can feel it buzzing. I am going to need to work it off."

"Do I need someone to get Henry today?"

Regina looked at her watch. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten. She had been so wrapped up in reading the books that time had passed her by.

"I don't know. Maybe. I need to eat."

"Well, let's go to Granny's," Emma offered.

"I was thinking somewhere else. Not that I wouldn't mind a meal that Eugenia or the Wolf-pup made, but I was thinking of something outside of town. Does that sound okay? If not, we could certainly go to Granny's," Regina stated.

"Are you telling me that you want to get out of town for a while?"

"I need to, I think," Regina replied.

"Want me to drive?"

"The cruiser or your death trap?" Regina asked.

"Official business?"

"Sure," Regina said.

"Then, my cruiser," Emma replied.

"Lead the way."

As they drove out of town, Emma called Mulan to update her on the situation. She then called Ruby and asked her to look out for Henry until they got back. Heading out of town and looking for the highway, Emma just drove. She let the signs and Regina tell her where to go. Which is how after twenty minutes or so out of town, they drove up on Owl's Head. Regina pointed and they ended up at a local establishment called The Salty Owl.

Emma watched her as they ordered. Regina seemed to be calmer. Regina ordered the roasted curried vegetable hand-pie and Emma the red Philly. The longer they were there and looking at the water, the calmer Regina seemed to get. The food was good, but Emma wondered what drove them from town.

"Want to tell me what happened?" Emma asked as they still sat at the table, watching the water, after they'd finished eating.

"I was looking up some of the things that the Sorcerer was known to have done. That didn't get me very far. So, I tried to figure out his wording. In doing that I stumbled upon a book I forgot I had."

"What is it about this book?"

"It's old. It's powerful. And, its magic lies with the words on the page. I should have known better, but I blew on the pages."

"And that stirred up the magic?" Emma asked.

"Yes, some magics you have to ingest. Some you breath in. Words like that can be inhaled. Once inhaled the user has not only their power but also their knowledge. The writing was in Fae," Regina stated.

"Fae?"

"Faery magic," Regina added.

"I'm guessing that isn't your run of the mill magic. It's very powerful, yeah. So, what happened with it?"

"I breathed in a spell."

"And?"

"I am not sure how I feel about it."

Emma sat back. She'd had a beer earlier, but turned back to water knowing that she'd have to drive them home. She watched as Regina quietly sipped her wine. It was from a local winery and she seemed to enjoy it, but there was something else still on her mind.

"Why? Does it make you want to destroy something? Was it bad?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Are you afraid of what you are going to do with it?"

"No."

"Then, what's the problem?" Emma questioned.

"I am afraid that I am going to get addicted to it."

"You can do that?"

"Yes, Emma, you can."

"Well, then, I guess it's a good thing that you got me in your corner. No worries about that happening. I won't let it. Plus, I know by your reaction that you won't either. You were worried about yourself, Henry, and the town. You didn't forget how far you've come. I don't think that you'll get addicted, Regina."

"You don't know how addictive magic can be, Emma. It is a very slippery slope and very seductive mistress. I should know. I let it control me to a degree in the Enchanted Forest."

"It didn't help that Rumple was force feeding it to you, either," Emma added.

"Well, there's that."

"He isn't doing that. You knew to walk away. You realized what happened."

"I wish I could have your optimism," Regina said.

"Regina, it'll be okay. But, I have to ask you one thing," Emma told her as she reached out and took her hand. "Did you find out anything in all your reading?"

"I think so," Regina answered.

"Well?"

"The sorcerer sent the child to a realm without magic. I don't know if that means this one specifically. But, it is a better start than we had this morning."

"It is."

"Do you know of any other realms that don't have magic?"

"A few."

"Could you narrow it down?" Emma asked.

"I could try, but we'll need Mal for it."

"Do you think that she would let you?"

"For her daughter, yes. If she knew that she was beyond the border, she would've already gone looking for her. Curse and memories be damned. She'd find a way."

"Just like you would," Emma stated.

"Yeah, she would."

"So, you ready to head back before Henry thinks we are some grand adventure without him?"

"Yeah, I guess I am. Thank you for this. Sometimes I forget that we all need to just to back away and relax. I don't get to do that a lot being mayor, especially now that everything is out in the open," Regina stated.

"No one expects you to run yourself into the ground to keep everyone safe, Regina. Sure, they all have some highly strange expectations of you, but you don't need to kill yourself to prove yourself to them. You need to do what you can and let the Council figure out the rest. If they can't do that, then what's the point of having them?" Emma asked her.

"We can deal with that later. You're right though. I need to delegate more to the Council or other members of my team, including you. But, right now, we need to get home before Henry decides to go looking for us. You know how he gets while he thinks that you are working on an operation."

Emma just nodded. She dropped some money on the table and escorted Regina back to the car. The drive back to Storybrooke was quiet. They were both lost in their own thoughts. The day had been long and tiring.

"You never told me how things with Maleficent this morning," Regina stated as they got out of the cruiser in front of the mayoral manor.

"She was very cooperative as was Doc. I explained that it was a long shot, but it was one that we were willing to take. She didn't understand what DNA was, but she hoped that what we were doing would bring her back to her daughter. She's willing to do anything I ask her. Doc seemed surprised that I was doing it, but he even said that it couldn't hurt. He also asked if I needed to a clinic or something set up at the hospital in order to help with other DNA testing for other citizens and such. I didn't know what to say, so I told him that I would get back to him about it."

"Do you think we need it?"

"Not really. Storybrooke isn't really a crime capital. With the exception of trying to find the Lost Boys parents, if they are still alive, and other possibly lost children of Storybrooke, which I hope aren't that many, we shouldn't need it at all. Can imagine what the real world would do if they had access to our DNA? I don't know how it differs. And, with Maleficent being not only a magical person but also a dragon, I can't imagine what her DNA looks like. If we can find her daughter through a DNA match, I am sure that whatever magical DNA she has will be notated as an anomaly or a strange mutation."

"That is something that she'll want to hear," Regina quipped.

"I didn't say I was going to tell her that," Emma replied as Regina opened the door and they walked inside the house.

"MA! MOM!" Henry yelled as he came out of the kitchen to greet them.

Ruby was on his heels, towel thrown over her shoulder. She was smiling at them both. Emma watched as Regina just cocked an eyebrow at her.

"So, what's going on with Operation: Dragon?" Ruby asked them with a large grin.

"False lead," Emma offered. "But, we're looking for more clues. Trying everything that I know that can in this world to see if she's here."

"Well, I think that you two are the best for the job," Ruby told them. "Come on. I've got dinner about to come out of the oven. Don't look at me like that. Granny isn't the only one who knows how to cook. Who do you think makes all your food for you the way you like Emma?"

Ruby turned on her heel, grabbing the towel off her shoulder, and headed back into the kitchen. Emma just shook her head and followed. Henry ran over and grabbed Regina had and pulled her along.

"So, what did I miss? What was the lead? What other clues do you have?" Henry asked as they all sat at the breakfast bar.

"Nothing much, Kid. Just went to another precinct to ask some questions. They didn't have any missing persons or found persons cases that would be around the right age. It was a long shot. We don't even know if the egg got sent here. However, Mal did do a DNA test. I can run that in the system and see what comes up, but that won't be for a few weeks. Until then, we just have to wait and see. The biggest issue is we don't know what she looks like or what her name is," Emma stated.

"Well, I can tell you she isn't in Storybrooke," Ruby offered.

"How, Wolf-pup?" Regina asked her.

"I can't smell her."

Regina and Emma both looked at Ruby, but they both accepted her answer. They were slowly narrowing down where they didn't think she was and knew where Maleficent's daughter wasn't. It wasn't much but it wasn't honestly a start.

"What did you find out?"

"It is the one line that has been bothering me."

"What's that?" Emma asked.

"It's the part of distant shores and shadows..."

"Frankenstein?"

"No, they were a gray world. It has shadows, but not like the Sorcerer was talking about. I don't really think that meant anything concrete when he said it. It was more about the innocent's of mortal born."

"Are there places without magic beside this realm that everyone is mortal?" Emma asked.

"I don't know. I'll have to consult my books again. I haven't heard of any, but that doesn't mean anything when it comes to magic or the Sorcerer. For all we know, she could be three towns over, married and has six kids by now."

"Is that a crack on the time differences because of portals?"

"It wasn't a crack. We know she was sent away from the Enchanted Forest to a realm of mortals without magic so her darkness wouldn't manifest into an uncontrollable state. He speaks of shadows and distant shores, but I don't know how important that is to the destination. He treated her eggshell as if it was a tomb. So, the child might not have absorbed all the darkness. The shell might have."

"We've done enough for the night. We need to eat and come back at it with fresh eyes tomorrow. I'll go with you to vault. Just let it go for now. We can't let us consume us. If we do..."

"I know. I know. So, Ruby, what's for dinner?" Regina asked her as they all silently agreed to change the subject.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Thinking Things Thru**

Emma watched as Regina tore through maps and tomes in the vault. It was like she was determined to find something for them to use. The purple in her eyes was evident. Emma reached for a book while Regina was reading it. She'd seen the look in Regina's eyes and didn't like. When Regina looked up from the book, Emma could see the magic swirling in her eyes. Reaching for Regina's hand, she cocked an eyebrow.

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize for helping, Regina. I know that you are doing everything that you can. If you don't find anything, you don't find anything. At least we can say that we tried. We have her blood. Doc is typing it for me. I'll have it uploaded and searching as soon as I can. I know that doesn't help you or us now, but we'll find her. I know we will. We have to," Emma told her.

"It doesn't seem like enough."

"We can only use what we know, Regina. Thankfully I have more at my disposal to find Maleficent's daughter as Sheriff than I ever did as a bounty hunter. We'll find her. And, then, we'll move on with our lives until someone else comes looking for their happy ending," Emma stated.

"What about you and yours?"

"What about it?"

"When are you going to get yours?" Regina asked her.

"Who says I haven't," Emma replied.

"Emma..."

"No seriously, who says I haven't."

"Are you happy here?" Regina questioned.

"I'm not unhappy."

"Emma..."

"Okay, look. For the longest time, all I ever wanted was my family, a forever home to call my own. When I aged out, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I really didn't have a clue. I didn't have any direction. I was drifting and it was fun until I went to jail. I know that I had Henry and I gave him up, but my life was still my own. I still had to fight for everything that I had. If I hadn't caught a break in Boston, who knows what would have become of me."

"What happened in Boston?" Regina asked her as she pushed some books away from herself.

"I found that I was good hunting down people. I started working for a bounty hunter. He taught me a lot, like how to skirt the law to get the target, but he taught me to look for the brighter things. I did a lot of lying to get the people that we were after. I did everything legally for the most part, but our capture rate was the highest in the city. Hell, even Boston PD got us to help with their warrants division sometimes. It was always small stuff, but we did a good job."

"But, you left all that," Regina stated.

"Yeah, because a precocious ten year old showed up on my doorstep claiming to be my kid on my twenty-eighth birthday."

Regina laughed a little, "Yes, he did."

"But, I still wasn't ready to be a mother. It had been ten years and I still wasn't sure that I should even be in his life. My life was still shit. I was still trying to figure things out. Yeah, I had a job and a decent place to live, but I didn't have a life. My life was getting bail jumpers, parolees, and convicts. It wasn't the safest thing, but it paid well. Getting Henry to get back here, it changed everything."

"How?" Regina asked as she leaned back.

Emma realized that they never really talked about it. She could tell that Regina and she both just assumed things about the other. They'd never really tried to see past the facades, masks, and magic. They played their parts in public, but there was so much more to each of them.

"I found my parents."

"That must have been a shock."

"I don't think that shock is a large enough word for that. I didn't know what to do with information. They wanted a baby and got an adult. I know they love me and I love them, but they are more my friends than honestly my parents. But, then again, they are my parents. I look to them when it comes to certain things in town because I know that I don't know everything that I should about the politics, history, and lore of the Enchanted Forest. We might not be living there, but there is still so much of it in the town."

"This is true."

"I got my family. I got my parents. I got my son back and I share him with the wonderful woman who raised him. I can't really complain about that. I realized that I'd done the same thing that my parents had done with me. Henry just lucked out and got someone who cared for him completely, someone who would do anything for him, and someone that wasn't going to give up on him no matter what. Me, I got shoved around foster homes, group homes and families, until I broke out on my own. But, I got my family. It might have taken me twenty-eight years to do it, but I got them."

"And that makes you happy?"

"Yes."

"Is that all?"

"I found out that I am the daughter of a fairy tale character. My parents are my age thanks to a curse. My son is ten years old. He was raised by my mother's arch enemy and is wickedly smart."

"Wickedly?"

"Sorry, bad choice of slang. He's super smart. He believes in his family, all of them, blood and not. He is the reason that the curse broke. If it wasn't for Henry, then..."

"You wouldn't have found your family."

"Exactly."

"So you see your family and Henry as your happily ever after?" Regina inquired.

"It was all I wanted as a child."

"Do you that it is all you want to be happy, though?" Regina asked her.

Emma honestly hadn't thought about it. She was content with her life to degree. She believed that there was someone out there for her, but she wasn't actively and hadn't been actively seeking them out. Some part of her hoped that they would find her, and that part had only gotten stronger since she'd come to Storybrooke. Maybe it was because she was a Charming. She loved fiercely. Everyone could see it. But, there didn't seem to be a single man that stuck her as worthy enough of her attention. And, the two that did were her father and her son, so they didn't count. She'd thought about August, but he'd become a boy again, so that was just weird. Then there was Neal, who turned out to be Gold's son. She wouldn't go back to him, not in a romantic sense. She would be friends with him, mostly for Henry's sake, but there wasn't that spark between them anymore. She didn't hate him, but she didn't love him either.

"Honestly, I am happier now than I have ever been. If I find someone to share that with, so be it. If not, I have friends and family. I'll be okay."

"That isn't exactly what I asked, but I understand. I'm happy that I have Henry, but I wonder if I'll have a happily ever after. I am the Evil Queen. I don't get a happy ending in all the stories."

"But, that doesn't mean that you can't have one, Regina."

"Doesn't it? I have a son I love. I have friends that actually seem to care about me. I have a good job, great house, and decent social life."

"Being Mayor isn't a social life, Regina. It's part of the job. You don't really have a social life, except with me and Henry. But, don't feel bad. I don't either. But, I'm content. Are you?" Emma asked her.

"As I can be."

"What does that mean?"

"I would love to have someone to hold at night and love, but I doubt that anyone in this town would come to my bed willingly."

"Hey, you don't know that," Emma told her.

"Actually, I do."

"I am not sure that I want to know," Emma replied.

"I am not sure that I would even tell you," Regina retorted.

"Well..."

"So..."

"Regina..."

"No, Emma, just drop it. How long did Doc say it would take to type Maleficent's blood? For the DNA to be run?"

"A couple of days."

"So now we just wait?"

"Yeah, we do."

"I hate waiting," Regina stated.

"Don't we all."

Regina looked at her again. She was pensive and withdrawn. Regina could only wonder what this was doing to her. Emma had to be torn, but she made her decision. She was siding with what she thought was right. It didn't make it any easier for either of them.

"Did Maleficent say anything about a name?" Regina asked her.

"No, she didn't."

"You didn't ask?"

"I was a little taken aback that she was missing an egg. And after her telling me that my parents took it, I kinda forgot to ask her what the name of her child was. Forgive me, I was little distracted. As soon as she left, I called Snow. I wasn't sure where to start except with them. And, it honestly doesn't matter if Maleficent named the child. She never met it. There was no way that the egg would have known what her name was. I'm still a little hung up on the fact that Maleficent knew that it was a girl," Emma told her.

"She is part dragon?"

"And dragon know the sex of their children before they are born? hatched? whatever it is that they call it?" Emma asked.

"I don't know, Dear. I am not part dragon. Perhaps, we should both go talk to Mal a little more. I am sure that there is more to this story than we know."

"I am not sure that I want to know more."

"Fair enough, Emma, but sitting around and pondering isn't really doing anything for the case, now is it?"

Emma looked at her. She didn't know what to do. They had nothing to go on, but maybe Regina had a point. They could talk to Maleficent. Maybe there was something about being a dragon that would allow them to move forward with the case until the DNA came back.

"Do you think that she'll be able to help us more than what she already told me?" Emma inquired.

"I don't know, Emma. I really don't. But, I am sure that she would feel better if we kept talking to her. It would remind her that you care and that you are working on the case, even if it doesn't look like you are. You have a big responsibility as town Sheriff, and I am sure she understands that," Regina started.

"I am not half the town understands what I have to do. They just see me as Snow's daughter and a problem fixer. I know we don't have a lot of crime and I spend most of my time trying to wrangle Pongo, but that isn't all I do," Emma stated.

"I know that, Emma. I know what you do for our town. I've seen it. You've giving so much of yourself to us and I'm proud of that. Now, in the beginning, it infuriated me, but now, I know that it isn't just a job to you. It is what you do. It is what you've always done. You want your parents and Henry to be proud of you. And, they are. But, I am also proud of you and what you do for us. Maleficent will see it, Emma. She lives here now. She'll see it or she'll hear about it. Let's not worry about that now. How about we get some lunch at Granny's and then we go see Mal? We'll just go talk to her. Remind her that you are trying and that we are working hard for an answer."

"Okay," Emma replied.

"Dear, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Emma stated.

"When did I have to start building your confidence in your abilities? You are an insufferable Charming. Act like it. You will find Mal's daughter because you won't rest until you do. So, let's go get that crazy bacon cheeseburger your rave so much about and go pay Mal a visit," Regina stated.

"You're right. But, I might just get a salad. Wouldn't want to eat anything too heavy before a possibly very heavy conversation, you know?"

"As you wish, Dear," Regina told her as she lead them out of the vault and back towards town.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Maleficent**

Emma stood outside the older Victorian home. She'd never really been on this side of Storybrooke. There hadn't really ever been a reason. But, when she saw the look on Regina's face, she realized that this wasn't a section that was part of the first curse. She knew most of the town and she knew most of the newer parts, but she hadn't been here.

"Was this here before?" Emma asked stupidly.

"Not that I am aware of, Dear," Regina answered.

"And, the Major Oak that the Merry Men are staying at?"

"It wasn't part of my curse," Regina replied.

"Shit, I am going to have beef up patrols."

"I am sure that you can figure something out, Emma. Like you said before, we don't have a lot of crime here. I will do what I can to get you more deputies on the payroll. It will be up to you to break up the town and train them. Storybrooke did get considerably bigger. It shouldn't be that big of a push, but we both know that the council wants to know where every cent of every tax dollar goes. Especially since we aren't technically sending anything to the government at large."

"Wait, so I've been paying taxes for no reason?"

"Well, Dear, you are technically the only one with connections outside of town. I've made sure that yours are paid, but the location has been changed. I doubt that the IRS will ever come looking for you or any other government agency for that matter. You told me that there wasn't really anyone outside of Storybrooke looking for you. Were you wrong?"

"No, no, I wasn't wrong. There is really nothing outside of town for me now. Everything that I know and love is here. My family, my friends, and I doubt that anyone would believe me if I told that I am really a princess of the Enchanted Forest. I would probably be committed and I really don't have time for that."

"I doubt that anyone does."

"We could ask Belle. I mean, really, Regina. Twenty-eight years in solitary. That was harsh."

"Have you met Rumple?" Regina retorted.

"Fair point."

"Knock already," Regina told her.

Emma nodded. She reached up, pulled open the gingerbread trimmed, wooden screen door, and knocked on the front door. She rapped twice and waited, still holding the door open. Maleficent opened the door a few minutes later.

"Sheriff, Regina," she said in greeting.

"Can we talk, Mal?" Regina asked.

"Come in," Maleficent replied, moving to allow them into the house.

They followed her into a sitting room near the front. Emma took in the room. It matched the solemn feel of the exterior. It was still a traditional Victorian style. Deep maroons, burgundies, and greens colored the room. The rich wood furniture blended perfectly with the wood floors. Everything was illuminated with floor length windows and strategically placed mirrors.

Maleficent had them sit down on a deep forest green leather sofa. She sat across from them on what looked like a hand carved arm chair with a matching forest green, maroon and gold brocade upholstery. Regina smirked at the chair and Emma had a feeling that Regina either recognized the chair or it resembled something that she'd seen in Maleficent's lair back in the Enchanted Forest.

"Have you found anything yet?" Maleficent asked them as she got comfortable.

"Nothing more than corroboration of what you told me. My parents admitted to their part in your daughter's disappearance and kidnapping. However, we now know that she was sent to another realm by a spell from the Sorcerer himself. His apprentice cast it and we are trying to figure out what realm it was."

"But, you took my blood and saliva," Mal countered.

"On the off chance that she might be in this realm. Doc is testing your blood and saliva for a DNA sequence. Once he has it, I am going to run it against the governments' databases. If there is a hit, I'll possibly have a name and a location. But, that is assuming that she came here, too," Emma told her truthfully.

"You don't know that for sure though?" Mal questioned.

"Not at the moment we don't, no. But, Mal, you must know that I am trying to help her with the magical aspect of this. I owe you that much and more. If she is in this realm, we'll find her and bring her here," Regina added.

"And, if she isn't?"

" Then, we will keep looking. I still have some of my mirrors. We'll find her."

"I've waited this long. I can wait longer. I just want to know that she is well," Mal replied.

"And, that is what I want to give you."

"But, you want to ask me more about it, don't you?" Mal questioned.

"Yes, I do. If that's okay. I know that it might be hard for you, but you may say something that will help us find what realm the sorcerer sent your daughter to and if we know that we can find her faster."

"What would you like to know?" Mal probed cautiously.

"How did you know that you were having a daughter? I mean, you had an egg. How did you know that the little dragon...eh, being...baby inside it was a girl?"

"If I said mother's intuition, you'd laugh. Honestly, I don't know how to answer that in a way that you'll understand. As far as I know, it's a dragon thing. We know as we lay our egg what sex our child will be. Before the egg is laid, we have no clue. Some dragons destroy their eggs if it isn't the sex they want and they try again. I didn't care. I wanted a child. I wouldn't have sought another dragon for any other reason. Dragons are generally solitary creatures, but I had been living as a sorceress for so long amongst the humans and other magical creatures that I wanted someone I could share my life with. I know that seems selfish and stupid for someone of my abilities, but it's the truth," Mal explained.

"No more than selfish than when I sought a child for myself, Mal."

"Henry?" Mal asked.

"Yes, Rumple made sure that it was him that I ended up with. I couldn't have been happier to hold him the first time. He taught me to love again. So, in many ways, it is appropriate that he bears my father's name."

"It is."

"What were you going to name your daughter, Mal?" Emma asked her.

"Lilith."

"The mother of monsters...interesting choice," Emma muttered.

"I am sorry?" Maleficent questioned.

"In religious lore in this realm, Lilith is the first woman created by God. Adam refuses her when she won't bend to his will and God casts her out of the Garden. She becomes the mother of monsters and demons along with Adam's son, Cain as their father."

"And, Scylla?" Regina inquired.

"Different religion all together. Scylla was the mother of dragons and sea monsters. Lilith was the mother of the demons of the night and supposedly vampires, more specifically succubi," Emma stated.

"That isn't making me feel any better," Regina replied.

"It doesn't matter. I am sure that Lilith is a good name from the Enchanted Forest. Our religious...well, this realms' religious mythology doesn't mean anything to you. I'm not helping myself here. Let's try it this way, then. What does Lilith mean to you?" Emma asked.

"It is a beautiful white flower. I was naming her after the flower. She was going to be my flower," Mal said.

"In this realm, that flower is called a lily. Lily can be short for Lilith. So, that is what we will go by. Your daughter will be your flower. I can't guarantee that it is the same name that she'll be using, but we don't know that. If you talked to your egg and told her that her name was to be Lilith, she might just be using it. I can't discount anything, large or small when it comes to this case, Mal, and I'm not."

"Thank you," Maleficent answered.

"I am not just doing this for you, Maleficent. I am trying to right a wrong that my parents imposed upon you. No one should have their child taken from them, especially in the manner in which my parents took her. I will do my best to bring her back to you. You can trust that I mean that. And, I know that Regina is going to help with that. We aren't going to stop until we find her or we exhaust every avenue, magical and otherwise, to find her. And, even then, I doubt that I will give up."

"I can see that in you, Emma. You are stubborn, but it is endearing in someone such as yourself. You give and give and expect nothing in return. But, know this, regardless of the outcome of this case, you have a friend in me," Maleficent told her.

Emma didn't know what to say to her. She wasn't sure that she wouldn't put her foot in her mouth. She looked from Mal to Regina and back again. Sighing, she sat up a little straighter.

"Is there anything else that you would like to know?" Mal asked her.

"You said that you didn't know who Lilith's father was. How can that be? You obviously had relations with him. How did you not know who he was?" Emma asked her.

Mal laughed slightly. Regina bristled a little. She hadn't been expecting Emma's question. If she had, she would have stopped her. But, it was obvious that it didn't bother Maleficent that Emma had asked. And, for that one reason, Regina kept her mouth shut and didn't censor Emma. Mal must have sensed Regina's stress over the situation. She gave Regina a pointed look with her bright blue eyes.

"I did indeed have relations with him, Emma. But, when we are in dragon form we don't who the other dragons are. We are a solitary creature as I said before. I was searching for a male dragon and I found one that I liked. The rest is just biology at that point. In the wild, dragons are usually alone. You might find a mother and child, but that is usually rare. We don't tend to congregate together that much except to mate. There are however some dragons that form colonies."

"They do?" Emma inquired.

"But, these dragons are usually on an island and at sea. They don't stay close to civilizations for obvious reasons," Mal replied.

"Obvious reasons?"

"Man hunts us. Those of us that are collectors become hunted for our treasures. Man doesn't want to work for it. They would rather steel it. So they raise vast armies to destroy us. Your uncle was killed by a dragon. It was how your father became George's heir. When James was killed, George killed any dragon he could find, peaceful or not. He didn't care. If it had scales, it died. If it could fly, burn it."

"And, you response to King Stefan?"

"Was a little dramatic, but he started it. I was merely making a point. And, one that I think he finally understood when I cursed his daughter. It was a last resort. The story wasn't totally correct and neither was Aurora. But, then again, I wouldn't expect her to be with her father poisoning her reasoning. How is she by the way?"

Emma wanted to laugh. Mal had balls. She knew what she was and she wasn't afraid to flaunt it, good or bad.

"Last Snow told me, she was pregnant with Phillips baby. That was before they came back, so... I'm assuming that she's had the baby by now. I don't know though. I haven't had to contact the Enchanted Forest for any news or anything lately. And, if I do, I usually get Regina involved. Thankfully, things have been fairly quiet."

"I see."

"Does that bother you?" Emma inquired.

"No, why should it?"

"You can't go home," Emma replied.

"To a cave and a lonely existence wondering if my child was still alive...some life that would be. If you don't mind me asking, why were you contacting the Enchanted Forest to begin with. I thought that everyone was here as a result of the Curse. Did I miss something or did the curse?" Maleficent questioned.

"A good friend of mine decided to go back to see if she could find more of her kind..."

"The child of the night? I believe her name is Ruby, right? Well, did she?"

"I don't know. Ruby doesn't really talk about it. She came home though with a friend. We were just glad that she came home that we didn't question the why. Maybe that makes me a bad friend. Maybe it doesn't. But, she seems happier now and that is all I wanted for her," Emma told her.

"To be happy?"

"Yes," Emma replied.

"I dare say that you need a new name then. Saviour takes away from your true occupation here, Sheriff. Do you know that?"

"And, what is that?" Regina inquired as she watched Mal.

"She is the giver of happy endings. One person at time, but she is doing it. Maybe it that Charming blood. Maybe it is what she was meant to do. But, either way, Emma delivers. And, I hope to be another success story."

Just then, Emma's phone rang. She looked down at it. It was Doc at the hospital. He'd sent her a text.

"News?" Mal inquired with a crook of her head.

"Yeah, sorry we have to go. Thank you for your time. If I have anything else to ask..."

"You'll be in touch."

"Yeah," Emma stated dumbly.

"Goodday," Mal told them as she escorted them out the door.

"Doc?" Regina asked as they neared the cruiser.

"Yeah."

"He's got the DNA sequence?"

"Yup."

"We're going to the hospital, aren't we?"

"Yup."

"I'll call Granny's for dinner. It looks like it is going to be a long night. I'm sure that Henry won't mind."

"I'm sure he won't," Emma said as she pulled out and started towards the hospital.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Breakdown**

Dinner had been a very quiet affair. Emma ate s little bit of the burger she ordered, but she said nothing. Henry watched his mothers, but he didn't know what to do. Regina wanted to say something but she knew that Emma needed time to herself. Regina tried several times to get Emma involved in the little conversation that she was having with Henry ot no avail. Emma was still contemplating the case and how she was going to deal with her parents. She needed to talk to her parents and she needed to absolution for her parents sins. The weight of what they'd done was slowly destroying her. She was going to lash out if she wasn't careful and Regina kept waiting for her to snap.

The walk home was silent. Henry had given up on Emma saying anything and he realized that the case was wearing heavily on her. He simply held her hand as they walked hoping to give her some strength. He might not have understood everything that Emma was feeling, but he understood enough to know that his birth mother was hurting. He would catch glimpses of Regina eyeing her and wonder what his other mother thought about the situation. He resolved himself to speak with her about Emma later. They would have to do something in order to protect her from herself. They both knew what Emma was like when she took on a burden and this case was quickly becoming Emma's cross to bear.

When they got home, Emma and Regina retired to the living room. Henry had gone to his own room, worried about his mothers, but knowing that he couldn't help them...yet. He promised Regina to finish his homework and go to bed before ten PM. She simply nodded as he took his leave. She followed Emma into the living room, wine glass in hand. Sipping it slowly, she made her way to the wingback arm and sat down.

Emma, however, didn't sit back down. She paced and muttered. Occasionally, she would wring her hands or wave them in a dejected manner, stop moving, shake her head, and then begin pacing again. Regina watched as Emma paced in the living room. There was obviously something on her mind. She was normally willing to wait for Emma to talk to her about it, but she was slowly wearing a hole in her hardwoods through her Oriental rug. If Emma wanted to destroy things, then she would not being doing it to her house or her things. Regina would find something else for her to destroy, something that wasn't valuable, something that was wild and could grow back if needed, something that Emma wouldn't feel the need to apologize for breaking or hurting.

"Emma," she stated.

Emma, if she heard her, said nothing; she just continued to pace. Regina doubted that she was ignoring her because now she could her the troubled blonde muttering under her breath a little more harshly. It was like she was trying to solve a complex math problem without the aid of paper and pencil. Regina sat back in the arm chair that she was sitting in and watched her for another minute or more.

Finally, she couldn't take. She stood up and after taking a few steps put herself in front of Emma, waited for the blonde to stop. The blonde looked up and deeply into Regina's dark eyes. They held for a few seconds before Regina knew that she had Emma's full attention.

"Dear, I know that you are upset but wearing a hole in my carpet isn't going to help," Regina told her.

"Sorry," Emma replied, sounding defeated as she turned and plopped down on the nearby couch.

"What's wrong?"

"Everything and nothing at the same time."

"I am not sure that I understand," Regina stated.

"This entire case is so fucked up that I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. My parents kidnapped a baby, had it cursed, and then sent into a portal to God knows where. And, I am just supposed to thank them for it? I am just supposed to be happy about it? Who does that? I mean seriously, who in their right mind does that to someone else's child and then expects there own to be graciously happy about it?"

"No one said you had to, Emma," Regina said.

"Well, they seem to expect something from me. I mean what the hell am I supposed to do with this. It's worse than them putting me in the wardrobe so you couldn't take me or whatever when you cast the curse. So what if I was meant to break the Curse. I had twenty-eight years without a family and now, I have an entire town that thinks of me as their golden child."

"There is that," Regina retorted. "But, Emma, I know that you are more than that. If your parents can't see you for the woman that you are, then that is their problem, not yours. You need to take care of yourself and Henry. I know that you put him first, but you put yourself last, Emma, and don't tell me you don't. I've seen it, time and time again. You can't help it. It is just your personality and nature. I guess that is something that you can be thankful for being a Charming about, but don't let your parents keep you down."

"How do I do that?"

"Have you been by to see them since you put them on house arrest?" Regina asked her.

"No, and you know that. If I haven't been with you, I've been at the station trying to work the case. When would I have had time to see them?" Emma asked her.

"I don't know, Dear, but they are still your parents. For good or for ill, you still love them on some level and I know that it is tearing you up inside that this has happened. You don't expect your parents to be infallible, but this is something on an entirely different level. I believe that you need to let them know how you really feel because keeping this bottled up is doing no one any good. If they don't know, they can't fix the bond that is broken. And, that is what you really want, isn't it? You want to have a real relationship with your parents? You want to have your big family and have that emotional connection with them. You were denied that and you haven't fully gotten over that with them," Regina explained.

"Why do you know so much about this?"

"Because I have seen this coming and have been wondering when you were finally going to explode. Honestly, I thought it would have been sooner after Neverland, but I was hedging my bets. I wasn't sure how soon Snow was going to try to have a child with Charming again. That kinda threw everything into high gear. I believe that you need to talk to them. You all need to get your feelings out into the air. None of you have processed it."

"How can I process it when they are the Saints of Storybrooke?" Emma asked.

"You are about to explode, Dear. You need to find a way. Go talk to them."

"Will you go with me?"

"No, Emma, I won't. This is something that you need to do on your own. And, do everyone a favor when you do it," Regina told her.

"What's that?"

"Don't take them to Granny's to do it. Do it in their home. Or, find some where else to talk them that would be neutral ground. Granny's is off limits."

"Too many eyes and ears?" Emma questioned.

"Precisely, my Dear," Regina replied.

Emma leaned back and put her hands over her face. She drug them down it and let out a disgruntled groan. She stared at the ceiling. Regina knew that it was going to be difficult, but it was something that Emma had to do. And, she needed to do it alone. She couldn't help her with this.

"I know that it is going to be hard, Emma, but you need to do this on your own. Not only for your own peace of mind, but because you'll feel better about it in the end. Having me there will only aggravate your parents, and that won't help either of you get your feelings out in the open. They still don't trust me and you decided to move in with me. That was a big slap in the face for them, besides the house arrest. I am not saying that I wasn't amused by it. I was. Immensely so, but this isn't about me. This is all about you and how you feel," Regina explained.

"I get that, but I don't like emotional confrontation. You should know that. But, now that we have that out in the open, do you know when you are going to do this?" Regina asked her.

"Never?"

"That really isn't an option, Dear," Regina added.

"Fine."

"So?"

"You want me to go like now?"

"No time like the present," Regina stated.

"I'm tired."

"Likely excuse," Regina retorted.

"What? We went to Maleficent's this morning. Then we spent the afternoon at the hospital before I went back to the precinct. While I was entering the DNA sequences into the computer and starting the searches, I was reviewing Tink and Mulan's reports. I was making sure that the town wasn't burning down around us since we were preoccupied with the case. I have way too much on my mind. Tonight would not be good."

"And, why is that, Dear?" Regina inquired.

"Because, I'll say something that I don't mean."

"I doubt that, Dear. You've never said anything that you didn't mean. I do remember you once telling me: 'Lady, you don't know what _I'm_ capable of'. So prove me wrong again. Show me what you are capable of and confront your parents. Get it all off your chest and quit carrying around a weight that should be burdening them and not you. You've done nothing wrong for you to be judged by their actions," Regina commanded her.

Emma sat up and looked at her. Her green eyes were watery, but she was holding back the tears. She knew that Regina's words weren't meant to be harsh or mean. She was merely trying to get Emma to see her point. Emma didn't owe her parents a damn thing. They however owed her the world. She was being judged because of their deeds and she felt like she had to right the wrongs that they'd created for themselves. They made her the orphan. They made her the Saviour. They made her the Lost Girl. They made her have magic because of their "True Love." And, throughout it all, Emma didn't complain about it. She took it all in stride, but it was starting to weigh her down heavily.

"I don't want to deal with this right now, Regina. I just want to go to bed. I am so tired."

"I know, Dear. I know. Go to bed then. We'll go look at the computer results in the morning. And, then you can plan to see your parents before lunch."

"You'll be at Granny's waiting for me, won't you?" Emma asked her like a lost child.

"Yes, I will," Regina stated.

"Gah, I really don't want to do this."

"I know that, Emma, but go upstairs and get a good night's sleep. You'll feel a little better in the morning and hopefully we'll have something to work with based on the computer results. So, goodnight, Emma," Regina told her as she pushed her towards the stairs.

Emma stopped at the base of the stairs. She turned around and looked into Regina's eyes. There was something there that she couldn't name. She'd seen it before but she still had no idea what it meant. Nodding slightly, she moved for the staircase on her own.

"Night, 'Gina," Emma said and slowly ascended the stairs to her room.

When she knew that Emma was out of ear shot, Regina let out the breath she'd been holding. She didn't know what was going on between Emma and herself, but she knew that there was something. She could see it in Emma's eyes. She could feel it in Emma's presence. They weren't fighting as much and they were actually agreeing on most things when it came to the town.

When she finally felt centered enough, she made her way up the stairs. She stopped at Emma's door and was just about to cast a pleasant dreams spell on the room, when Emma opened the door. Green, worried eyes met

"I don't know that I can do this."

"Yes, you can," Regina told her.

"Is this where you quote something like 'the sins of the father...'?"

"I doubt that you would actually listen to me if I tried, Emma. You've decided to take on their problems as your sins when you did nothing wrong. You were born into this simply because of who your parents are. If you were to let go of the burden, I don't believe that you would remain who you are. The punishment that you received has already been exacted upon you. The twenty-eight years without them was your punishment. Don't you think that is enough? This self inflicted torment is doing nothing but make you miserable. You need to sleep and then we can talk in the morning while we review the computer results. Then, you will go talk to your parents. I will be waiting for you at Granny's. I am sure that a bear claw and steaming cup of cocoa with cinnamon on top will help you start to feel better. After that, we can go out to the pond and you can really let loose. But, for now, go to sleep and stop worrying about it," Regina commanded her as she waved her arms casting the spells to aid Emma's sleep.

She watched the blonde got to bed and sleep. She quietly shut the door and then headed to her own room. Forgoing a lot of her nightly routine, she herself went to bed as well.

"Sweet dreams, Emma," she said as she cut off her bedside lamp and pitched her room into darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Sins of the Mother**

Emma stood outside of her parents' apartment and sighed. She didn't really want to do this, but she knew that she had to. Regina hadn't forced her to leave the precinct per se, but she had been giving the Sheriff looks all morning. Emma theorized that she wouldn't be this upset if she knew where Lilith was. As it was, the computers were done running through all the databases that she as an officer of the law had access. And, it was that last little tidbit that was driving her insane. She hated not knowing. She had a crime. She had one of the two victims. And, she had the perpetrators. But, it was that fact that she had no clue where to even begin looking for Lilith that was driving her nuts.

When she was a bounty hunter, it was all very cut and dry. Here was a target. Seek it out at these "known" locations. Get the target. Then she either called the local PD or cuffed them herself before dragging them back to what ever precinct was looking for them. She had an idea how long a case was going to take as soon as she read the warrant, the contract, and the perp's history. And, Emma always got her man, even if sometimes it took some very creative thinking on her part.

A simply bait and switch wasn't going to work this time. Neither was a fake date. No, nothing in her bounty hunting days prepared her to find a missing child, that was technically as old as she was, when she had no clue where to look. Add in the magical component and she thought the case was royal fucked from the word go. And, just because fate really was a bitch and must hate Emma on so many levels that she didn't even know how to apologize for her existence, her parents, Snow White and Prince Charming himself, were the perps.

She let her head fall into the door. She wanted to beat it against it repeatedly. She knew that it wouldn't help, but maybe, just maybe, it would make the headache that had been threatening for the last few days either come out to play or hide in submission. She hated this. She hated all of this. And, now, because she'd used her head as a knocker, the door to the apartment had been opened.

Snow stood there with a shocked look on her face. Emma backed up and looked her mother in the eye. Green eyes met green eyes. From the background, Emma could hear Charming ask who was at the door. When Snow didn't answer, he moved around and saw that it was their daughter.

"Would you like to come in?" he asked as he pulled Snow away from the door.

Emma didn't respond. She just nodded and walked into the apartment. She looked around for a minute before deciding to sit at the kitchen table.

David ushered Snow over to the table while he went back into the kitchen area. He came back with three mugs of coffee, a small thing of creamer, some sugar and three spoons. He gave each one of the a mug, none of which matched, and sat down. He doctored his coffee as Snow did the same, both of them wincing slightly as Emma just picked her mug up and took a drink of her black coffee.

"So, what can we do for you, Emma?" David asked.

She sat down her mug and looked at her parents. She saw the worried looks in their eyes. One set green like hers and the other blue. She let out a sigh. She looked back down at the table as her fingers played with the handle on her mug. After a few seconds, but not more than a minute, she looked back up. Her father looked lost and her mother looked devastated.

"I'm running Maleficent's DNA to see if there is a match with anyone in this realm. I know that it is a long shot, but this is a realm without magic. It is just something small that I can do. Regina is trying to figure out what other realms that the Sorcerer or Rumple might have visited that had no magic. We'll use mirrors to find her if we have to, but this isn't going to be an easy case. And, I hate it. I hate the fact that I even have to do this."

"I know, Emma. I know that you are taking on our crimes and trying to right them. I can't imagine the pain that it is causing you, but I want you to know that we love you so much. I know that doesn't mean much right now to you but regardless of what happens, know that we will always love you. No matter what," David told her.

"Why do you care so much now?" Emma asked, thinly vailing her anger.

"Because we always cared. Everything that we did, we did for you. I know that sometimes it seems wrong and in most cases others were hurt because of our decisions, but we were young parents who only wanted the best for our unborn daughter. We did what we had to do to protect you," he answered.

"Does that include making me an orphan in a land without you? Does that include telling me that we couldn't cross a line to do anything to protect this family? Because I am having a really fucking hard time realizing where that line is for y'all and where it is for me. It seems like you two can do whatever you want and I have just deal with the backlash. How is that protecting me?" Emma almost hissed the questions at them.

"Emma..." Snow started.

"NO!" Emma shouted at her as she raised her hand. She closed her eyes and centered herself quickly. Letting out a held breath, she continued, "No. No. Don't tell me that you did it for me. I've heard it all before. It is all you both have been regurgitating at me for the last few years. You always tell me that you did it for us as a family, but what the hell happened in Neverland. Hmm? What the actual fuck was that?"

Snow had the decency to look ashamed. She hung her head as her hands gripped the mug she was holding tighter. David seemed to be troubled not only by his daughter's anger but her words as well. When he went to answer, Emma cut him off with a shake of her head.

"You told me that I couldn't sacrifice this family in order to save my son. You actually told me that saving Henry wasn't the risk to this family and on some level I understood what you meant. It was why I let Regina take that boy's heart. I knew that I couldn't cross that line. I couldn't hurt someone like that because of the damage it would do to me. But, now...now, I know it was because of a spell. I couldn't bring myself to do something dastardly because my parents willed it so. I might have lost my son, your grandson, because of your selfishness. And, you are going to have the gall to tell me that it was to protect me. Fuck you both."

"Now, Emma," David tried to start.

"No. You stuffed me into a carved tree trunk and sent me to a world unknown because of what? Did Regina ever threaten me specifically? No. She threatened you. And, why? Because my mother couldn't keep her mouth shut. You hunted each other because of feud that started with your mothers and spilled over into your lives. Rumple and Cora caused this rift and honestly, I don't believe that you wanted to hurt each other. I mean if Regina wanted to, she could have killed you several times over. Instead, she sent the Huntsman. She sent others because she didn't have it in her to kill you herself. And, instead of realizing the pain that she was in, the pain that you'd caused, you went after her. Do you know what it was like for her? She watched her own mother kill the man she loved in front of her. Then, she had to marry your father, a supposedly good man. She couldn't even take care of that on her own. She got the Genie to do it. And, in the end, she was nothing if not nice to you. She may have actually loved you like a daughter or a sister, but you never saw any of that because you were a selfish brat. You only saw what you wanted to see. You are the one that named her the Evil Queen. Regina isn't the monster here. You are," Emma stated.

Snow sucked in a breath. David was starting to get angry. He would let Emma rant, but this was starting to get out of hand.

"Now listen, Emma. You don't know everything. You can't..."

"I don't know what? I don't know that you are a shepherd. That you aren't really a prince. I don't know that you only took James' place because he was killed by some dragon that he was hunting. I don't know that George was a cruel man. I don't know that he didn't want you and Mom to marry because she was a princess without a kingdom. He wanted you to marry Abigail because she was Midas' daughter and he needed the money in order to raise an army. You were the most innocent in this until you became complacent with Snow's actions. Am I saying that you shouldn't have fought for the kingdom? No, I am saying that you should have fought for your family. Instead, you rushed out of the room in which I was born, barely minutes old and put me in a tree trunk. What father does that? You had no idea where I was going or if I would be safe. You hoped...you actually hoped that I would come back and save you both, because of what that idiotic, power-hungry imp told you. Twenty-eight years, I spent alone thinking that my parents didn't want me all because I was found on the side of the road wrapped in a handmade blanket with Emma stitched on it. How do you convince me that you did that for me? You didn't. I was a loophole in a magical curse that honestly, even though the Sorcerer, Blue, and Rumple had created, you caused to happen."

"Emma..."

"Did you know that Regina cursed herself so she couldn't have children? Did you? Do you know why? Because I do."

"Emma..."

"The sins of the father shall be suffered upon the son...well, in this case, the sins of the mother are causing my punishments. I spent twenty-eight years alone. I spent seventeen years bouncing around homes and families that supposedly wanted me only to find out that I wasn't worthy of love. I ran away to try to find something and I ran into Neal Cassidy. Sure, I got Henry out of the deal, but even he hasn't escaped your sins. I gave him up because I knew that I couldn't keep him. I knew that I couldn't be what he needed. He was punished because I was punished. It just continues, but unlike us, Regina took him in, showed him love, until the loophole in the curse brought about my return. She is more his mother than I am and I am thankful everyday that she allows me to co-parent with her. She doesn't have to and you have no right to take him from her, nor do I. But, your selfishness honestly knows no bounds.

"I am now trying to fix it because you stole a child from a mother. You took an unborn child from its mother. Yet, another helpless victim in your reign of terror. You cursed this child because I supposedly had the greatest potential to be evil. Do you know how stupid that sounds? You cursed an innocent child because some crazy guy told you to. That is so idiotic that I don't even know what to say. Did you not think that the way you raised me would have saved my soul? No, you didn't. You believed that you were once again in the right in hurting someone else to protect your family from something you didn't understand. And, I am just supposed to be grateful for it. Well, I am not.

"How many other victims do you have? How many people died because of your selfishness? How many people have been hurt because of the turmoil that you created?

"I am not saying that you are evil or anywhere near the level of Rumple. I am not. I just want you to think about what you've done. The pain that you've caused because you didn't think everything through. I lived without a family for twenty-eight years because you thought what you did was best. If I was destined to break the Curse in twenty-eight years, it wouldn't have mattered if I was still a baby or an adult. The time limit was the issue, not me," Emma explained.

"Emma..."

"No, don't apologize. I don't think that I would actually believe you right now. I am so angry, but I understand on some level too. I am just tired of the hypocrisy that you both use. I am tired of carrying a burden that you created. I am tired of being this great and wonderful thing that was born from the mighty and innocent Snow White and the noble and just Prince Charming, because it is all a facade and a lie. I am going to fix this, but you need to fix yourselves before you bring another child into this world. I will not let your sins be on them," Emma told them as she stood up and walked out of the apartment.

She felt lighter, but she was still in pain. She knew that her words were harsh, but she needed to make them somehow understand what she felt. Because at the end of the day, it was her health and her family that she was trying to protect now. She had more to think about. She had to make sure that Henry and his soon-to-be aunt or uncle didn't have to pay anymore. She wanted to stop the cycle with herself. She could take it because she had been taking it for almost thirty years.

"What's another thirty?" she mused as she walked into Granny's to meet Regina.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: The Match**

Emma sat down in the booth with a thud. She looked over at Regina, who just slid a bear claw and a cup of cocoa at her. Neither of them said anything. Emma devoured the bear claw and drank the cocoa quickly. She let out a huff and then looked back up into Regina's eyes.

"Didn't go well?" Regina asked.

"Well isn't the word I was use," Emma replied.

"Then what would you say?"

"One sided."

"One sided?"

"I didn't really let them say anything. I vented. I ranted. I let them know what I thought. And, through out it all, I managed to make myself feel better. I wasn't trying to hurt them, really. I just want them to understand. And, they don't. They really don't because they are selfish. I get it. I do. I understand it on some level, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt me, doesn't hurt others, and that Henry isn't effected by it, too. And, that was my breaking point," Emma explained.

"Henry?"

"Yeah and the little one they are about to have. They shouldn't have to inherit their problems. This feud that you both fought was from your mothers. You've tried to be the bigger person, but they still belittle you. I am not saying that you are great and always do the right thing, but you are trying. You've been trying for years. I can see it in the way you are with Henry. But, they can't get over a name that they gave you, no matter how it was earned. That is all they focus on. They aren't looking at the bigger picture."

"And, you are?"

"I don't know that I am, but I see more than they do. I get why you killed...well, had Leopold killed. I get it. I understand it. He hurt you and you kept that from Snow. But, you also knew that you couldn't be the one that killed him. And, killing him wasn't a life for life. His death was not to avenge Daniel's; it was to end your suffering. I also know that you would have walked away and given the kingdom to Snow if she hadn't been such a brat. You've proven how much work goes into running a kingdom by keeping the town afloat. She couldn't do that. She had to ask you for help. She never learned to see the real you. She made up her mind about everyone and that was what she supported. As soon as you became a killer in her eyes, there was nothing else that you could be."

"She's never been good about taking blame."

"But, she's going to this time. She isn't going to lambast you for protecting Henry and doing what you thought you should to save him when she's done worse for me. I gave up Henry because I knew that he would be better off without me at that point in time. And, honestly, I didn't know what I was going to do when or if he came to find me. I've always lived for myself. I've had to. I didn't have a choice. When I knew that someone was willing to adopt him and they wanted a closed adoption, I was happy. I knew that he would have the home that I didn't growing up. I knew that he would be loved. I knew that he would be cared for. And, I was just as bad as my mother, except I knew that he was going to someone. I knew that there would be someone for him. I didn't send him through some portal to some unknown place, on a wing and a prayer, hoping that he'd come back in twenty-eight years."

"Emma..."

"Yeah?"

"I think that you need to let it go for now. You're getting agitated again. Just know that you've told them how you feel. What they do with that is now on them. You can't keep wondering and living for them. You have to live for you and Henry."

Emma looked deeply into her eyes. She opened her mouth to respond several times but didn't say anything. Instead, she thought about it for a minute or two and realized that Regina was right. Carrying around this weight was going to help anyone. She'd said her piece and now she had to wait on her parents. In the mean time, she had a case to work on and a missing child to find.

"I think that I'll head back to the station."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Regina asked her.

"It's up to you, Regina. I don't want to keep you from any work that you need to do. I am sure that the council would love to rag you for not having something ready for them by the next meeting. By the way, did you get the budgets approved for the Merry Men to be deputies?"

"I did. All of their conditions were very doable. It was surprisingly easy. They didn't want vehicles. And, since they are running the stables, the horses were a no brainer. I also made a deal with the owner of the sporting goods store for their crossbows and bolts. I must admit that it was a strange request, but we aren't a normal modern town," Regina explained to her.

Emma just nodded. She got up and walked to the counter to pay. Regina followed her. She placed a hand on Emma's left arm and shook her head. Ruby just smiled at her and pointed to the door. Emma looked confused but eventually got the point that the meal had already been paid for. She waved at Ruby and Granny as she made her way to the front door with Regina in tow. She also made a mental note to call Ruby later. She needed to talk to her friend.

They slowly made their way down the sidewalk to the Sheriff's station. It wasn't a long walk but the weather helped Emma calm down. There was just something about the clear blue skies and knowing that she was doing everything that she could with the information that she had to find this girl that kept her from going mad with anger. She wanted to just let it all go.

She wanted punish Rumple for his part in all this. She also wanted to smack that self-serving smirk off his face. He was no better than a troll in her mind, but his magical knowledge was sometimes helpful and needed. It was the only reason she hadn't banished him from town yet. But, she also knew that if she went after him that she would have to go after so many others, too. The town would be culled very quickly, but that wasn't necessarily justice. And, that was what she represented. She was the law. She was the Sheriff. She was not only supposed to protect and serve. She was supposed to uphold the law.

She breezed into the station and immediately went to her office. She waved at Mulan as she passed her desk. The warrior just looked up and nodded as she bent back over her reports. She didn't seem at all upset by Emma's demeanor or the fact that the mayor was following her.

Regina shut the glass door to the bull pen and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Emma's desk. She looked over the name plate. The emblem of the office of Storybrooke's sheriff and her name glared back at her. She felt the need to run her fingers across the lettering but resisted.

Emma turned on her monitor and looked at the screen. Her eyes got wide. They had a hit.

"What is it?" Regina asked her when she saw Emma's reaction to the screen.

"We got a hit."

"A hit?"

"A match," Emma stated.

"To Maleficent's blood?"

"Yup!"

"Does that mean..."

"It is a one in four million chance, but that is better than nothing. Give me a sec and we'll find out some more," she said as she clicked on the link that took her to the match's profile. "Well, fuck me running."

"What is it, Sheriff Swan?" Regina asked, hoping that her tone would cause Emma to curb her language a little bit.

"Her name is Lily Page and I think I know her," Emma replied.

"You know her?" Regina questioned as she moved around the desk.

She placed a hand on Emma's shoulder as she read the computer screen over it. The girl or woman certainly seemed to be the right age, but she looked nothing like Mal, not that it mattered. Regina was curious as to how Emma and this Lily Page couldn't have crossed paths before. She was looking through the history as Emma scrolled and then she saw it. They were both in the same adoption agency as babies, but that should have made them meet later in life. How did Lily find Emma in a world with no magic? And, if she did actually find her, did Lily know who she was?

"I know that you aren't going to ask, but I'll tell you anyway."

"Tell me what, Swan?"

"I met Lily when I was a teenager. I wasn't in Boston...or Maine...or even New England. I had run away and found my way to Minnesota. Don't know why there, but it worked for awhile. I was picked up and as unregistered minor I was put into their system. I was put into a house that was run by Sarah Fisher. She was nice and caring, pushy but stable. I liked it there. That is where I ended up after Lily. Lily and I met in Boston. She lied to me and I ran from her. She found at the bus station. She gave me some money for a ticket and I bought the one to the farthest place it would take me."

"Let me guess, Minnesota," Regina said as she stood back up.

"No, I actually ended up in Fargo. Don't go there. It's a bad town."

"What were you doing in North Dakota?"

"Running."

"From?" Regina asked.

"My memories and Lily."

"What was so special about Lily?"

"She was my first best friend. She taught me how to pickpocket and boost things without getting caught. She didn't need to do, but she liked to. Now, I know why. We were destined to meet. She had everything. The nice family with money, a car, anything she wanted, but she kept throwing it all away on guys, booze, and stupidity. When I found out that her boyfriend had robbed a store, with her help, and a clerk was killed, I couldn't be there for her. I couldn't hide her with the family I had been placed with. I got her some food and got her out of town. Problem was she didn't stay gone. She came back because she was looking for something."

"What was it?"

"You know how I had a blanket with my name on it?"

"Yeah," Regina replied.

"Well, she had necklace. I stole it back for her. When I gave it to her, I told her the truth. I knew that she had robbed the store. I knew that she was wanted. I couldn't hide her. She had to go. A few days later, I couldn't take it. I needed to get out of town. I wanted to go rob a store, but I knew that I couldn't do it on my own. Instead, I found myself at the bus station. Lily saw me there and gave me the money for the ticket. I didn't ask her where she got it or how she got it. I didn't care. My life was falling apart again and I needed to move on."

"What happened with the family you were with?" Regina asked.

"They found out that they were pregnant."

There was a pause. Regina didn't need to know the rest. She was sure that these parents no longer wanted or could afford to keep Emma, so they were going to ship her off back into the system. It probably didn't help that Lily was now wanted and was an associate of Emma's as well.

"Well, where do we find her?"

"Hell if I know. Last known address was New York, but that was over five years ago. I thought she was dead or something."

"So, I guess we're going on a another road trip," Regina stated.

"I mean, I guess, but I don't know to where. I doubt that she stayed in New York. Lily wasn't the one to be tied down. She was free spirit even if it got her to trouble, but now, we know why."

"Well, Fate can be a real bitch," Regina said. "But, we know a name. You know what she looks like. Is there anything else we need to find her?"

"Yeah, she got a birthmark on her arm. It looks like a tattoo of a star, but it's not. That's how will know if it is really her," Emma explained.

"So, let's go get her."

"Regina, there are like eight and half million people in New York. Add in the fact that I really don't know what she looks like now, except for a birthmark on her arm, and it will be worse then trying to find her DNA in the system. We know who she is and where she was once. That doesn't mean that we're going to find her just because we go looking. I hunted guys down for a living. I had to be patient. We will be, too."

"You can be patient if you want. I am not going to sit here and ponder the situation. I going to use magic to help us along."

"Gina, magic doesn't work outside of the town line."

"Magic itself doesn't, but potions due, and I have just the one to make," Regina told her as she stood up and left the office.

"Gina?" Emma asked.

When she got no answer, she tried again, "Regina!"

But, Regina was already out of the precinct before Emma rounded her desk. She was on a mission to help find Maleficent's daughter. They had a name and former location. Making the potion would be easy. Getting Emma to take it to New York was going to be the problem.

"Gina!" Emma yelled as she chased Regina down the street.

When Emma was close enough, Regina waved her hands and teleported them to her vault. As the smoke cleared, Emma was still bitching about the land without magic and her potion not working. Regina just smiled at her as she ignored Emma's ranting. She was too busy brewing a potion to find Lily Page with the star birthmark on her arm.

And for a split second, Regina thought that they could actually close this case before the weekend. But, she that nothing was ever that easy. She hoped that the potion would work, but she had no way of testing it without causing issues in the town. They were just going to have to hope that Lily hadn't gone to far or she wasn't dead. Other than that, Regina was sure that they would find her.

"Go home a pack, Swan. We're heading for New York. And, I plan on seeing a show or two while were there."

"Why?"

"Because I doubt that Miss Page is just going to follow us willingly back home, Dear. She is going to need some convincing and you, Dear, are her friend. You already have a connection to her...in more ways than one. We can do this. You just have to believe in me, just a little, to make sure this works," Regina said.

"It isn't the problem of believing in you Regina," Emma started.

"Then what is it?"

"Believing and trusting Lily."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Road Trip**

Emma still wasn't sure that this was a good idea. Lily wasn't exactly someone that she was clambering to see. But, she owed it to Maleficent because of her parents. She wondered if she would ever be able to look them in the face and not see the acts that they've committed for her.

"Don't think on it too much," Regina told her as they crossed the stateline.

"How can I not?" Emma asked her back in reply.

Emma was glad that Regina was with her. Sure, she wasn't happy about the drive. It was long, but it was nice to have someone else with her for once. The fact that Regina was driving now gave her time to think more about her time with Lily in Boston before she could actually say that her life went to shit. It wasn't like it was Lily's fault. She knew that it wasn't, but things had become extremely more complicated after she left Boston.

They only had a few more hours until they arrived in New York City and Emma could honestly say that she wasn't prepared. Lily wasn't a bounty. She wasn't someone that she was hunting for a paycheck. She was an old friend. She was one of the ones that helped her get through her teenage years. She was a boone in an unforgiving world and Emma had turned her back on her when Lily might have needed her the most.

"We could have been a teenage Thelma and Louise," Emma said breaking the silence.

"Because that would have been so much better than Neal setting you to take his fall," Regina retorted.

"I don't know. If we had stayed together and left Boston together, I might not have ever found Neal. I don't know why I kept coming back to Massachusetts. I should have known better. But, I'm comfortable there. I know the area, so I should have known better when I ran into Neal. He was running from there, too, but I stupidly went back for those watches in Worchester."

"And, then when you got out of jail, you moved to Boston. You stayed there the longest, Emma. Do you even know why?"

"I was stupidly thinking that I could find what I was looking for there."

"Which was?" Regina asked as she dared to chance a glance at Emma while driving.

"A family."

Regina couldn't hide the gasp. Emma had been so desperately looking for a family that she was willing to settle for anyone that gave her attention. It broke Regina's heart. She knew that she was partially responsible for Emma's heartache. Her parents were for the other, but that didn't make it hurt any less. She felt for her because she knew what it was like to search for love. She knew what it was like to have everything ripped away. They had both suffered and they were both being healed by Henry's love.

"Well, now you have a big family."

"I have a son that isn't sure how long I am actually going to stay. I have parents that don't understand what my life is really like. I know they all love me and I love them, too. It doesn't stop the lonely feelings. It doesn't stop the pain and it doesn't cure the heartache. I want it, too. I want everything to be magically better, but it isn't."

"I know what you mean. I thought that having Henry would cure the hole in my heart. It did a lot for me, but it still didn't stop the fact that I was alone. I couldn't unburden my problems on a child. That would have been wrong. But, I'll admit that I was so desperate to keep him my little boy and son that I did some things that I am not proud of. And, when I realized what I was doing, I stopped. Henry's happiness meant more to me than my revenge or my skewed view of justice. It should have been enough for me to know that I kept you and your parents apart for twenty-eight years, but it wasn't. I was scared."

"Scared?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I was scared that you were going to take him away from me. I know that we had a closed adoption, but if George had taken your case, I am sure that he would have some loophole for you to retain custody. I'd lost so many people in my life that I didn't think that I would survive losing Henry," Regina admitted as she continued to drive down the Interstate in New Hampshire.

"Oh, Regina," Emma started. "I didn't want to take him from you. I just wanted to make sure that he was happy and taken care of. I could see that enough quickly that first night, but he asked me to stay. So, I did. I didn't think of taking him until just before the Curse broke. You went a little overboard and I was seeing red. I still didn't want to believe in magic and that my parents could be storybook characters. I didn't want to believe. But, then Henry ate that turnover and I had no choice to believe. I broke the curse and I got everything that I ever wanted. But, I wasn't what anyone expected, let alone myself."

As they neared the Massachusetts stateline, Emma started getting more and more restless. Regina could feel it, but they hadn't been on the road long enough to justify another stop. She knew that Emma needed it. The woman needed a lot and Regina wanted to help her find it. She just didn't know how because she was still searching for her happy ending. She knew that Henry was part of both of their happy endings, but she didn't know Emma desired the most. She wanted someone to share her life with, someone that she could love and someone that would stand with her through everything that came their way. She turned and looked over at Emma again. Finally she couldn't take it. She pulled over at the next exit. She parked in the emergency lane on the off ramp and waited for Emma to look at her again.

It wasn't that she didn't think they should still be going. She knew that they were going to be getting into New York late. An over eight hour drive with breaks guaranteed it. They hadn't even really arranged somewhere to stay. Regina had been so intent on them just going that they just did. She honestly wasn't that worried about it at the moment. She was more worried about Emma.

"Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna tell me what you are thinking about?" Regina asked her.

"I am just wondering if we did the right thing."

"The right thing about what?"

"Leaving Mulan and Red in charge of the town while we're gone," Emma mused.

"It will only be for a few days, Dear. I am sure that the Wolf and the Warrior can hold down the fort while we find the baby dragon. Is that it? Or are you more worried about the fact that we left Henry with your parents because in your own words, you 'trust them more than Rumple and Neal.' Which I totally understand, but I am sure that Belle would take offense to that at some point," Regina told her.

"I don't care that Rumple is his grandfather. That man is an imp, like you say. He can't be trusted. And, Neal...well...Neal is his son."

"Still a little bitter about that are we?"

"Don't start."

"You do know that you are going to have to deal with him eventually, right?" Regina asked as she merged back on to the ramp and started looking for the appropriate on ramp back onto the Interstate.

"Maybe or maybe not. Neal is known for not sticking around. Having a son didn't seem to be that important to him before now. I know that it isn't fair, but he had me arrested. He set me up because he said it was safer for me. He's never explained and I doubt he will. He doesn't talk about his past. Much like Rumple doesn't like to talk about his mother or father. And, we all saw that worked out," Emma stated.

"Well Pan surely was a new one to deal with. Never thought that I would want to kill a child, but he might have been the first. It really is a shame that Rumple did it for us. I am not sure that I like his all I'm loyal and good now routine. I've seen him too much and I know how much he craves power. He is the Dark One but he has his son back. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"I don't want to talk about them anymore."

"Then, what do you want to talk about?" Regina asked.

"I don't know."

"Why don't you tell me more about Lily?" Regina suggested.

"What do you want to know?"

"What made you both such good friends?"

"I am not sure. We met because we were both orphans and had been in the system. There was a common bond I guess. She was more like a street kid, though. She did her own thing. She had this great family and she'd been with them since she went into the system. She had every orphan's dream, right and she ran the streets. She dated the bad boy. She was always getting into trouble and they just took her back like it was nothing. It didn't matter what she did, they were there for her."

"And, you didn't have that. Did you resent that? Did it upset you that she was throwing away everything that you wanted?"

"YES! I was so angry with her. She had everything and she would just walk away from it. Her parents just figured that she was a troubled teen. They tried to get her help, but she kept just going. Nothing made her happy with them."

"But, you did?"

"I don't know. She didn't seem so angry when we were together. It was almost like we balanced each other out. I know now that we really did."

"What else is she like?"

"You would think that she wasn't Maleficent's daughter. They are like night and day in coloring. I would be a better guess as Maleficent's daughter. Lily is dark haired, dark eyed and has a deep tan. Honestly, she could more your daughter than hers. But, we would run around, steal things from shops, and run some more. When I finally got a family in Minnesota, I figured that I would never see her again. She was on the run and I didn't know why. But, the cops knew that we were friends."

"What really happened between you two, Emma?"

"She lied to me. She found me in Minnesota. She was running from the law. Turns out her bad boy was notorious for being an armed robber. He robbed some store and had Lily with him. Only problem with that was that she was the one that the cops were really after. She was the one on camera because she was the one at the counter and the one with the gun. She was the one that actually held the store up. Her boy toy dumped her and she fled. She couldn't go home. She just knew that this time would be the time they didn't help. So, she ran all the way to me in Minnesota. I don't really know how she found me. I didn't ask. I was just so happy to see her. You know, I had my friend back," Emma told her.

"And, then what happened?"

"I found out the truth. It was on the news. I couldn't back her anymore. I couldn't hide her. I had to get rid of her before she fucked up things with my family. But, it was too late. They'd called the cops and I was taken back into a home. The family didn't want any trouble and because of Lily, I was considered trouble. Three weeks later, I found myself in Sara Fisher's group home."

"And, what was wrong with that?"

"Nothing. It was a nice group home. I felt more at home there than anywhere else. Sara made us all feel wanted. She was nice and she wasn't old. She actually cared about us. She supported us."

"But?" Regina asked.

"There was just something off about her. She pushed me in ways that I didn't understand. She wanted me to believe in magic. She said things to me that didn't make sense and out of the six kids in the house, I was the only one she treated like that. She kept telling me that she could see the light in me and that I needed to let it out. I freaked out one night and ran away. Only to hook up with Neal," Emma lamented.

"Do I know this Sara Fisher?"

"Yeah, she ran the ice cream shop in town. She was the Snow Queen and Elsa and Anna's aunt. She was the closest thing that I ever had to a real mother and it was only for six months. Now, I wish I had just stayed."

"But, you wouldn't have broken the Curse. You wouldn't have found your parents. You wouldn't know who Henry has become," Regina countered.

"I know."

"Do you want that, Emma? Do you want to forget everything and still be lonely? Do you want to go back into the dark about your son?"

"No...I just...I just want things to be simple again. I'm tired of the fighting. I'm tired of the lies. I'm tired of magic. I just want to live me life, be a good mother and maybe find someone that can handle me," Emma said as she fell into the window of the door.

"I can understand that, Emma. I really can. We'll deal with it all when we get back. For now, just rest. I'll wake you when we get to the City," Regina told her.

"Okay," Emma replied.

Regina didn't know what to do. She knew that Emma was breaking, but she didn't think that it was that bad. She couldn't blame her. She'd been through a lot. But, for Henry's sake, she needed to find a way to bolster Emma back up, magic or no. Emma had made her mark in Storybrooke. She couldn't just let the Sheriff leave. Because if she was honest with herself, Regina found that she was starting to need Emma.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Roadside Diner**

Regina pulled off I-95 just inside of the New York stateline. It was a small town, but it was obviously bigger than Storybrooke. She pulled into a gas station to fill up the car and to get some coffee. She knew that it was late in the afternoon, but she figured that they could both do with a pick-me-up. As soon as she was parked near the pump, she heard the passenger door open and close. She looked over to see Emma heading inside the station. She didn't know if it was a bathroom run or she was going to get some coffee. Regina hadn't said anything and just watched her go. Finally shaking herself out of her reverie, she got out of the vehicle and began to pump their gas.

When Emma didn't come out before she was finished pumping, Regina looked at the station again. She knew that Emma wasn't doing well emotionally and she hoped that nothing had happened. She knew that Emma could handle herself in most situations, but she'd never seen her this defeated looking before. Deciding that she'd better head into the station to find Emma, she did. When she got inside, she saw Emma sitting a table in the back corner.

The station didn't just have gas and the normal convenience store attached. It had a small diner in the back with a full service grill. Knowing that it was just around seven o'clock, Regina wondered if Emma was hungry. The blonde could eat and her appetite only rivaled Henry's, so she knew where he got it from. She walked over to the table and sat down across from Emma. As she got onto the bench, she noticed the large paper to-go cup of coffee in front of Emma and a second full cup. She assumed that this was her cup and she reached out for it to take a drink. When Emma didn't stop her, she took a sip but kept her eyes on the blonde. There was something in her eyes that bothered Regina, but she couldn't name it.

"Emma?"

"She's here."

"She's here?" Regina asked, sure that she'd missed something completely while she was pumping the gas.

"She's here. She's the waitress. She brought me the coffee."

"Emma, who is she?"

"It's Lily," Emma said as she leaned over her coffee and stared into her cup.

Regina immediately spun around and looked around the little diner area. Had they really found her that fast? It couldn't be true. But, there was a waitress near the counter. She was dressed in the diner's yellow uniform t-shirt. Her dark hair was pulled back into a utilitarian ponytail. Regina couldn't see her face, but by Emma's demeanor, she was Lily. It might have been over a decade since they'd seen each other, but Emma was sure that it was her.

"Is she going by Lily?" Regina asked her.

"No, Starla."

"Think she is still wanted?"

"Probably, I don't know. I haven't really thought about her or seen her in over ten years. I don't know what she's doing. But, it is obvious that she isn't in Boston or New York," Emma told her.

"Okay, I can see that, but why are you so upset about this? We found her. We can talk to her. You can tell her that you found her birth mother. We can skip all the rest of it and see if wants to come back with us. If she doesn't, that's fine too. We found her. You can close your case and tell Maleficent about her."

"If I can't bring her back, then I've failed Maleficent."

"You can't force her to come back with us, Emma and you haven't failed anyone."

"How have I not?" Emma questioned as she looked up from the coffee cup and into Regina's rich, dark eyes.

Regina reached across the table and took her hand. She wanted to hug Emma, but she wasn't sure how she would respond. It was one thing when they were alone in house back on Mifflin Street in Storybrooke. It was something completely different sitting in a roadside gas station diner in New York. Emma didn't pull her hand back, but she looked at their joined hands. Regina didn't know what it meant. Emma had been more and more receptive to her emotionally since she moved into the house, but it seemed that she was breaking a little more each day. And, maybe that was what Emma needed. She needed to break emotionally in order to put herself back together. Regina understood that. She'd done it, but she'd gone off the deep end a little to do it. It wasn't until Storybrooke and having Henry that she realized how crazy things had actually gotten because she was heartbroken and never spoke about it. For Emma, it might cost her the family she always wanted and she didn't know how Emma was going to handle that. She resolved that she would be there for the blonde no matter what. Besides, Regina never broke a promise. No matter if the girl was five or thirty-five. She owed Emma her loyalty and her protection and she was going to give it to her.

She knew that their relationship had been changing. She was no longer the protective, albeit almost imaginary, adult in Emma's life. She'd outgrown that years ago. And, no matter what Regina tried, she was never going to be that for Emma again, and honestly, she didn't want to be either. She knew that Emma wasn't looking for a protector. She was looking for a friend, and that was what she was trying to be. Sure they had been enemies, but they realized how much Henry meant to them and how their destructive nature towards each other was hurting him. It was an uneasy alliance, but it worked better for them all in the end. Being co-parents and sharing custody made Henry happier. He didn't feel like he had to choose between his mothers. And the more that they did together as a strange familial unit, the closer that Regina had gotten. It wasn't just a friendship on some levels. It was deeper than that. Regina wasn't just a teacher. She wasn't just a friend. She wasn't just Henry's other mother. Regina wasn't sure what it meant and she wasn't willing to push anything because she knew how fragile Emma was. She was trying to make Emma understand how much she'd grown to care for her, but she didn't want to scare the woman. She would let Emma decide what their relationship was and how deeply it went. It didn't stop Regina from wondering, though.

"Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to talk to her?"

"No."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Regina asked her.

"No."

"Then what are we going to do about her?"

"I..."

"Emma, what is it? What's wrong? What aren't you telling me?"

"Lily and I had a more complicated past than I told you."

"Complicated? Like complicated between me and you? Or, more like complicated between Snow and I?" Regina inquired.

"More like complicated between Mulan and Ruby," Emma stated.

Regina cocked her eyebrow at Emma, but she didn't let go of her hand. She knew that this was important for the blonde and she couldn't abandon her now. Plus, Regina didn't care. She'd had her share of female lovers when she was Queen. There was just something about a woman that man couldn't duplicate.

"Is that why you are afraid of her?"

"No," Emma said pulling back and looking deeper into Regina face like it was the most incredulous thing that she'd ever said.

"Then explain it to me."

Emma didn't speak. She just sat there and stared at Regina. She'd just told Regina that she'd had a more than platonic relationship with Lily and Regina didn't even bat an eye. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what people thought about relationships like that in the Enchanted Forest and honestly because of her dailiance with Neal, it had never come up before. She bit her tongue because she wasn't sure what Regina wanted her to tell her. Ruby and Mulan were one thing. Emma being with another woman was something completely different. She was the supposed "Crown Princess of the Enchanted Forest." Sure it was a title that she didn't want, and she was happy being town sheriff. But, there was always that nagging feeling in the back of her mind about her attraction to women.

"Emma?"

She just stared back at her.

"Emma, are you okay?"

She looked back down at her coffee. And, Regina knew that Emma was afraid of her reaction. She had to tell her the truth. She could be open enough to do that even though they were in a gas station diner in the middle of nowhere New York.

"Emma, I don't care about that. I never have. If that is what you want, then go for it. It isn't like I didn't have my own dialiances as Queen," Regina told her.

Emma's eyes shot up and she looked Regina over. She didn't need her "faulty" super power to see that Regina was telling the truth. It was the look in her eyes and the way Regina was smiling at her. When Regina reached across the table and took her hand again, Emma didn't flinch or pull away. She knew that Regina was just trying to comfort her. She was there for her, so Emma needed to man...woman up and deal with her own issues.

"I...I knew that it was her because she has a birthmark on her arm."

"A birthmark?"

"Yeah, it's a star on her wrist. You might think it was a tattoo that had faded, but it isn't. She's had it forever. It's kinda memorable."

"Okay."

"She drew one on my arm, too...when we were younger. She's changed. She's older, but I know it's her. I can feel it."

"I believe you, Emma. You have a crazy knack for always finding your man. She's the bounty this time, even if she doesn't constitute a reward."

"That is one way of thinking about it," Emma replied

Just then, before Emma could say anything else, Starla came back to their table with a carafe of coffee. She refilled their cups. Looking between them, she could tell that she interrupted something important. So, she decided to make her escape and apologize.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. If you want something to eat, just flag me down. I'll be up at the counter," she told them.

Emma reached out and grabbed her arm. The look of surprise on Starla's face mirrored that on Regina's. Regina leaned forward in her seat, preparing to apologize for Emma's actions when Emma finally said something to her.

"Wait. I know who you are. I want to talk to you."

"Uh...look, lady, I don't know who you are, but I don't know you. Please let me know before I call the law. You can have the coffee on the house, just leave."

"Starla...I must apologize for my friend. She's a little upset. See we are looking for a woman about your age. She's been missing and her mother sent us to find her," Regina told her as she reached out for both of their hands. Laying a hand on top of Emma's, she said, "Let her go, Swan. This isn't the way to do this. You're scaring her. Emma. Let. Her. Go."

Starla backed up at the name as soon as her hand was free. Green eyes just stared back at her. Green eyes that she knew too well.

"Emma?" she asked barely above a whisper.

"Hello, Lily."

"What are you doing here?" Lily demanded.

"I found...well, more like she found me. Look, I am a sheriff in a small town in Maine. Your mother sought my help in looking for you. She's been looking for you for years. It wasn't until recently that she's had someone who believed her enough to do anything about it," Emma told her.

"Let me guess, that was you?"

"Yes."

"And, how did you know it was me?"

"Besides the birthmark?"

"Yeah," Lily stated.

"We ran her DNA to see if we could get a hit and it did."

"Mine?"

"Yup, you," Emma replied.

"She wants to see me?"

"Yes."

"She's been looking for me?"

"Yes, she's never stopped. You were taken from her. She knows that you might not need a mother, but she wants to know you."

"So, why isn't she here?"

"She can't leave town."

"Sounds like a scam. And, you're the law. How do I know that you aren't here to just get me?"

"If I was, Lily, I would have already cuffed you. I'm not here about a warrant. I don't care about any of them. Besides, this is anywhere near my jurisdiction," Emma said standing up. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her wallet. Flashing her badge, she pulled out a business card and handed it to Lily. "Look, call me if you want to meet her. I'll take you to her. You can try googling the town but you won't find it. It's a small hamlet in Maine. It's not on a map. Just...think about it. I can imagine what it will be like for you to have your birth mom finding you. I found mine. But, this is honestly up to you."

She looked at Regina and then back at Lily.

"We don't know where we're staying tonight, but now that you're here, it'll be somewhere close. That's my cell on the card. Call it. We can talk. Regina here is the mayor. She's one of your mom's friends. We can tell you about her. Just know that she misses you, always has, and she just wants to know you. I get it if you don't want to. Ball's in your court, Lily. Thanks for the coffee," Emma told her as she dropped a ten on the table and headed for the door.

"Is it really my mom?" Lily asked Regina.

"She is and she misses you. Think about it. Call Emma if you are serious about meeting her. She's one of my oldest friends, so I don't want her to get hurt. And, trust me, when I tell you that it shocked the Hell out of Emma to find out that you were her daughter. Just think about it. I don't know how long we're staying, but Emma's done her part. She's found you. She can close the case. Whether you meet with her or not, that's on you now," Regina stated as she stood up, grabbed their coffees and followed Emma back to the car.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Personal Examinations**

Emma sat on the end of the bed. Regina was on her laptop checking in with Ruby and Mulan. Emma was still stressed. She'd hoped that the trip would help her deal with some of it, but it hadn't. It had just brought up a lot of old memories of her and Lily. Plus, she kinda outed herself to Regina. True, the older woman really didn't seem to care and seemed to understand what Emma was feeling. They hadn't talked about it, and on some levels, Emma was grateful.

Regina was watching her over her laptop. She'd been quiet since they'd gotten the room. She watched on as Emma stared at her phone. She knew that Emma was hoping that Lily would call. Regina was hoping that she would, too, but she doubted that it was for the same reason. She couldn't help but wonder if Emma needed some closure with Lily. She wanted Mal to know" her child. She didn't want to deny her that, but she was honest with Lily. It really would be up to Lily. She was an adult and they legally couldn't "steal" her away home. She would feel for her friend if Lily didn't come back with them, but she knew that Maleficent would take comfort in the fact that Lily was alive and well.

"She's not going to call," Emma said breaking their silence.

"It's still early."

Emma pulled out her phone and looked at the display. It was just after ten o'clock in the morning. It had been a long night for them both and it didn't help that they'd had to share a bed.

"Emma..."

"I don't know what to do," Emma replied dejectedly.

"You've done everything that you can, Emma. There is nothing more for you to do. You found Mal's daughter. Now, it is up to Lily."

"Do you think that Maleficent is going to understand that? I don't know if I would in her shoes. Lily's been missing for around thirty years. I get that Maleficent realizes that she's an adult, but is she really going to be okay knowing that Lily doesn't want to meet her?"

"She is stronger than you think. She's gone this long without her. I am sure that it will hurt, but she'll respect her daughter's decision. She be happy to know that she's here in this realm and alive. That she survived the portal and has a full life. Of course, she'll want to know more about her, but we can only tell her what we know," Regina explained.

"So, I am just supposed to tell her that I had a relationship with her daughter when we were teenagers?"

"I didn't say that. We can tell her that she lives in New York. That she's a waitress at a diner and she seems to be in good health. Whatever else you can tell her from your shared past with Lily is up to you. I would never betray your trust on something like that."

"Does she know about the spell?" Emma questioned.

"You'd have to ask her about that, Dear. I was never under the impression that Maleficent ever had a child. Nor, did I ever know about her working with your parents to stop me from casting the Curse. By that time, Mal and I weren't exactly friends, platonic or otherwise."

"Wait, you and Mal?"

"And, one point, yes. It was short lived, but it taught me a lot about what I wanted from a lover. Of course, this was after everything with your grandfather, so... I guess it wasn't hard to be caring lover when I'd never had one before. To be honest, we didn't love each other, Emma. It was just a dialance. A coming together to release some tension and to help us deal with our built up emotions," Regina explained.

Emma just stared at her. She nodded at Regina's revelation. Giving up for the umpteenth time, Emma dropped her phone on the bed. She fell back and just stared at the ceiling. Regina gave a tight lipped smile, that she knew Emma didn't see.

"Is there something else you want to talk about?" Regina asked her again.

"I just can't get the last time I saw her out of my head," Emma started, let out a sigh, and then continued. "It wasn't exactly on the best terms. I said somethings that I can't take back."

"Is that what's really bothering you about all of this? Or, is it the fact that she didn't recognize you? Can you be honest with yourself and tell me that?" Regina asked her.

Emma looked at her. She knew that Regina had a point. Upon closer inspection, she didn't know, either. She'd been surprised when she realized that Starla was actually Lily th Iat she hadn't really processed it all until the got to the hotel. Then she had time to think. In retrospect, she hadn't recognized her either until she saw her birthmark. Could she really fault Lily for not knowing who she was? It had been over ten years. Surely, they both had changed.

She was brought out of her thoughts by her ringing phone. She sat up quickly. Looking over at Regina, she knew their conversation wasn't over just because she had to answer the phone. She didn't recognize the number, so she assumed it was Lily calling.

"Hello?"

"Emma?" the caller asked.

"Yeah, it's me, Lily."

"You haven't left yet?"

"No, we haven't left."

"Can I talk to you? Alone? I need to know some things before I make my decision."

"Sure."

"Are you still in town?"

"Yeah, we are," Emma replied.

"There is restaurant on Proctor Street. It's called The Skillet. Meet me there in half an hour?"

"Sounds good."

"And, remember to come alone."

"She'll be with me, but we'll talk alone. We can get our own table or something. But, we'll see you there," Emma told her.

"Fine," Lily replied and the call dropped.

Emma looked over at Regina. Her eyes were wild and she knew that Regina was just as eager as she was. She sat the phone down and waited for the questions to come. She knew that Regina had them, but she was still dealing with how she felt after the phone call.

"She wants to meet?" Regina finally asked.

"Yeah."

"Alone, I'm guessing," Regina stated.

"She wants to talk to me alone."

"I see."

"I am not sure that I'm comfortable doing that."

"I understand."

"I want you to go with me."

"I gathered that much, Dear," Regina replied.

"I just not sure how smart that it would be to meet with her alone."

"Emma, I understand. I'll be in the restaurant with you, but I get her wanting to meet alone. She probably has some things to get off her chest, too. You said it yourself that you didn't leave on good terms with each other. You have to see it from her perspective."

"Which is?" Emma asked.

"You've come back into her life after more than a decade. She's moved on. You've become a town sheriff. She might actually still be wanted and have warrants out for her arrest. She's living under a different name. You probably scared her. Plus, it can't be easy for her knowing that out of everyone in the world, you're the one that found her birth mother. And, not only that, that she was taken from her birth mother. Do you remember how you felt when you found out that Mary Margaret was actually your mother?" Regina questioned.

"I was a little freaked out. I'd told her things...things that you only tell your best friend, not things you would ever tell your mother. And, then there was the whole thing with Whale... It was super awkward."

"Do you see where it might be a little much for her?"

"I do."

"And, on top of it all, she doesn't know about the magical aspect of our lives," Regina added.

Emma just nodded. She paced around the room for a minute and then looked at the clock radio on the bedside table. They didn't have much time and they needed to be leaving. Emma was anxious and rightfully so, but she was more worried about being late. She didn't want to be late. Usually she didn't care, but this was Lily. It also didn't help that they weren't in a town that she was familiar with. Find this place, The Skillet, was going to be the first obstacle of the day. With a let out breath, she stopped, gathered the keys and headed for the door.

"Ready?" Regina asked her as she joined her at the door.

"As I'll ever be," Emma replied.

The drive to the small restaurant wasn't long. It was actually very close to the hotel that they were staying in. Emma could only wonder if Lily did this on purpose. There were only so many hotels in town. Decided that it didn't matter, Emma parked and they headed inside.

It was little more than a very large,small town buffet. A small place that it seemed that the locals indulged in, Emma was reminded of the time that Sara Fisher had taken them all to a Sizzler. It didn't look that big, but boasted several buffet lines and large pit that had meats pan searing in large cast iron skillets on an open flame.

"Well, this seems quaint," Regina stated.

"I'll get us a table," Emma replied with a smirk.

She walked over to the hostess stand and talked with the woman there. Shortly after they were being lead to a table near the back and away from the main buffet lines. She saw Lily sitting a few tables over, glass of water in hand. Emma nodded at her as she sat down. Regina must have seen the gesture for she turned and acknowledged the other woman.

"Do you think that she wants to eat or talk?"

"Dear, she called you to talk. I doubt that food is one her mind. Go over there and talk to her. I'll be fine on my own. Just know that I'm going to position myself in a way to see you. And, don't forget that your magic isn't that stable. I know that we aren't in a place of magic, but that still doesn't mean that you aren't going to react badly if your emotions get to high," Regina told her.

"I know."

"Go on."

Emma nodded and slowly weaved her way through the tables until she made it to Lily's. She pulled out the chair and sat down with a thud. She gave her a crooked smile and waited. She didn't know what to say. This was going to be all Lily.

"You found my mother?" Lily asked.

"More like she found me, but yes, I know her."

"And, I was taken from her?"

"Yes."

"And, she wants to know me?" Lily questioned.

"Very much."

"So, she lives in Storybrooke."

"Yes."

"And, she can't leave town."

"No, she can't. She has a condition that prevents it. She would have come herself if she could, but she couldn't."

"A condition?"

"I can't really speak on it. It isn't my place. If you want to know more, you'll have to visit her."

"But, you said that I wouldn't find the place without you," Lily replied.

"You really won't. It is really in the middle of nowhere. And, in those parts in Maine, it is easy to take the wrong road and end up in a dozen little fishing villages. Storybrooke being one of them."

"Why did you come?" Lily asked her pointblank.

"Honestly...I'd been searching and researching for the case your mother brought to me. I'd been interviewing everything that I could, but thirty years is a long time to remember something. I found a few people that remembered just enough and I believed your mother's story. Once all the pieces started to fall into place, I had a hunch. It was a small and I didn't know if it would work."

"Her DNA?"

"Yes. We didn't have a picture to age. And, she was the only one that had any sort of link to you. She was skeptical to even do it, but after it was typed and entered into the system...two days and we got a hit."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. And, color me surprised when I realized that it was you. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it."

"Why?"

"Do you not remember that night in Minnesota?"

"At the bus stop?"

"Exactly."

"I've never honestly forgotten it. I felt like my heart was breaking. I felt lost and confused, like part of me was being ripped away. And, honestly, I haven't felt whole since that night, Emma," Lily stated.

"I haven't either, but it doesn't mean that I forgive you."

"I don't expect you to. I honestly never did. I just didn't want to lose you. Emma, you'd forgiven me before. I just didn't want to be alone."

Emma looked down. She stared at the fake wood pattern to the table. When she looked up and back into Lily's eyes, she saw her pain reflected.

"Lily, I don't know what to tell you. I've moved on. I have a son. Henry's twelve and I shared custody of him with Regina. I have a good life and my family. I found my parents. Or, they found me, depending on who in town you ask. I've been through a lot since that night and I am sure that you have as well. I can't tell you what to do, but I know that Mal wants to see you. She wants to know you. And as much at it might break her heart, she'll understand you not wanting to come to see her. Like I said, if she could have been here, she would be. But, know that she never stopped looking for you," Emma told her.

Lily looked down. Emma could tell that she was thinking. She didn't mean to be so emotionally manipulative but she really wanted Lily to come back with them. And, it wasn't because she wanted to see if she could rekindle whatever she had with her when they were teenagers. She didn't. Part of her would always love Lily, but she wasn't in love with her anymore. She just wanted Lily to know her mother and she wanted Maleficent to know her daughter. She got that opportunity with Mary Margaret/Snow. She just wanted the same for them.

"When are you leaving?" Lily asked her.

"Since we found you, I don't know. We were heading to New York City. Regina's never been, so we were going to look around for a few days. But, now that we found you... I think we might stay in town for a few days, maybe until the end of the week. But, we really need to get back. There are other cases that I need to be working on and Regina has a lot to do as mayor."

"Friday?"

"Friday," Emma said with a certain finality.

"I'll let you know by then," Lily answered before she got up and walked away.

Emma watched her go. She gave a quick smile at her retreating form. She knew that this was hard for Lily. She expected it to be. But, she couldn't wait to see her face when they got back to Storybrooke.

After a minute or two, Emma got up and returned to her table with Regina. She sat down and looked at Regina nursing a cup of coffee. There was a mug of hot chocolate in front of Emma. She picked it up and took a tentative sip.

"Good?"

"Not as good as Granny's, but it'll do," Emma told her.

"Hungry?"

"We're here. Might as well eat, right? Be shame not to test the local flavor and all," Emma replied.

"She coming back?"

"She's thinking about it," Emma stated.

"Do you think she'll come back?"

"I think that she's very confused right now. I told her that we'd stay until Friday. That'll give her some time to think it over."

"And, then?"

"We leave, with or without her," Emma said.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Malanie Drake**

When they got back to their hotel room, Emma immediately got on Regina's laptop. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but she knew that she had to create something for Lily to see. It was something that she should have had done before they left. It wasn't that hard to google something, but Storybrooke didn't actually exist according to the real world. Regina has been taking care of everything before then. But, now, Emma had to do something to make the town look legit. She pulled out her cell phone and called Henry.

"Yah, Ma?" he asked as he answered his phone.

"I need you to take some pictures around town."

"For what?"

"I'm creating a website," Emma told him.

"Really?"

"Yeah and I am going to need some help in doing it."

"Okay, I'll go talk to Belle and get her to set something up."

"Thanks, Henry. How's school going? Anything I should know?"

"Nope, just learning Enchanted Forest history. I have a project due in a few week about mythical creatures. Ruby is helping me with it."

"That's great, Henry. Make sure that you have Belle call me. And, stress that we will be home soon."

"When?" he asked.

"We'll be leaving Friday, so we'll be home that night. It might be late, so you should go to bed regardless if we make it home in time or not. And, don't give Ruby too much grief, okay? I know that you wanted to come with us, but you need to stay in school."

"Because I am going to be able to go to college?"

"If you want, yeah, you will. We can get some online courses for you if you don't feel like you are learning enough or the right things. I know that school changed a lot after the Curse broke, Henry, but you can't ever stop learning."

"Oh, yeah, what about you?"

"What do you think your mother and I are doing every Tuesday? Hmm? She's teaching me magic and control."

"Okay, well, Ruby is yelling about something in the kitchen, I'd better go."

"Make sure she cleans up whatever it is," Emma told him.

"I will. I'm sure that she knows better than to break anything. And, I know that she doesn't want Regina to find the kitchen dirty. I've got this."

"I've heard that before."

"Love you, Moms," he said just as Emma could hear a crash and the line go dead.

Regina looked at her, cocked an eyebrow and waited for the report on Henry. Emma knew that she was a little upset that Henry hadn't spoken with her. It wasn't like she was keeping him from her, but she knew that it hurt that Henry hadn't spoken to her before her hung up. Regina had only heard Emma's side of the conversation, so she was waiting to see what Henry's answers were.

"He said that he loves you," Emma stated.

"I assumed that he would. So, what's this about getting the bookworm to set up a website for the town? Do you think that it's wise?" Regina asked.

"Wise or not, do you not think that Lily isn't going to look into it? She knows where we're from and a fake website is better than nothing. It'll give some idea what the town in like, but it won't betray our magical origins. I mean, come on. My taxes are going somewhere. The government has to think that something is there. It isn't like I'm still in Boston."

"True."

"And, if something goes wrong?"

"I'm alerted and I either take care of it or I send you back to Boston."

"I still have an apartment there?"

"You might," Regina answered with a smirk.

"Really?"

"I needed to make it believable. It's nothing and it comes out of a special account in the town's budget listed under Sheriff's housing. It was started as soon as I realized that you weren't leaving town. A few hundred a month isn't as bad as it could be."

"A few hundred? Regina my rent was well over a thousand a month. Where do I supposedly live?"

"The same place. I just made the landlord an offer and got it fixed. He changed the apartment number. You have a mailbox and that's it. The street address is still legit and you've never officially moved from Boston according to the government."

"What about jury duty and stuff?"

"You're listed as a deputy sheriff. You won't be called. It would be considered a conflict of interest. So, it's covered. Now, this website..."

"It'll be just about the town. Something for her to research. We don't have to maintain it once she makes it back to Storybrooke. And, I am sure that you can come up with something magical to make sure that it's erased from the interwebs," Emma stated.

"What about Mal?"

"What about her?" Emma asked.

"Is she going to be on the website?"

"As what? Resident dragon? I don't think that would be a good idea."

"She's going to need an alias," Regina countered.

"Then, we'll need to think of one. Is there something that she can do? What does she do in town? I've never really seen her there except when she came to see me. Hell, I didn't even know that she had that house. What about that? What will we make her backstory?"

"I don't know. She was a dragon and a sorceress. I don't think that we have an opening for either of those in town, do you?"

"Do we have a new age shop?" Emma asked seriously.

"No."

"Well, then, damn. What about town historian or something with the town? Then she would technically be employed by you," Emma stated.

"That could work."

"Now, a name..."

"What about Malinda?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"No," Emma stated. "I got it."

"What?"

"Malanie Drake," Emma replied.

"And pray tell, why?"

"Well, cause you call her 'Mal,' all the time. Malanie is just a corruption of Melanie and I think it means 'dark.' But, Drake is just great. It goes perfectly with all the other names that coresponde with their fairy tale names."

"So what does it mean?" Regina asked her.

"For someone who needs to know languages for her spells, you really surprise me sometimes," Emma added.

"Just tell me. We don't have time for this nonsense. What does the name mean?" Regina demanded.

"Dark Dragon," Emma replied with a smile.

"Dark Dragon?"

"Yup."

"And you think that you are being cute, don't you?"

"Well, it beats introducing Lily to the real life Maleficent, don't you think? How do you think that is going to go over? If she was bad ass and scary where you lived, imagine what the tales of her here were like," Emma stated.

"Do tell," Regina said.

"She was an evil fairy. Sure she could change into a dragon and all that jazz, but she was the big bad in Sleeping Beauty. She was the one that lived with the goblins and the baddies in the moors and marsh. Her castle was more like a giant dungeon and she had this crow..." Emma told her shivering. "Still hate them because of that bugger."

"A crow?"

"Yeah, they're sneaky and evil. Don't like them. Never will."

"But, yet you will receive a raven?"

"They are noble creature."

"Darling, a crow is nothing more than an a smaller version of a raven. Surely, you've seen those in your days. I know that this a famous poem written by a very famous Bostonian author," Regina stated.

"I could deal with a raven...crows are just..."

"Anyway, Dear, moving on. Malanie Drake. It would allow her to still go by Mal, which is good, but what could I have her do for me. Giving her a government job is easy enough, but it needs to be believable. And, we need to do it fast."

"Well, it's going to be hard considering that she is product of the first curse, but not really. She was just a thing below the library. And, then I killed her."

"And, then after the third curse from your mother, Rumple brought her back to life with the caveat that she can't leave town...ever. And, thanks to that, that leaves us where we are today. So, I could name her town historian as she is the oldest being there besides Rumple, but I don't know if she would even want the job," Regina answered.

"Then we ask her," Emma said as she pulled out her phone.

She quickly dialed the number to Mal's house and waited. She wasn't sure what the woman would say, but she hoped that she would agree to their plan. They wanted LIly to come back with them, but at the moment, that was still very much up to Lily. Knowing that her mother was there was just the beginning. Emma guessed that Lily would want proof or something more concrete about her before she decided to just go to Storybrooke.

"Hello?"

"Mal?" Emma asked as she put her phone on speaker and placed it on the small hotel table between them.

"Well, yes, you called me, What's wrong? Did she say that she didn't want to see me? What happened?" Maleficent asked them.

"No, no, nothing like that. She's being cautious. We get it. I get it especially. It isn't like we thought that she was going to jump on the bandwagon and just come back with us. I have Belle and Henry working on a town website, so she'll have something to look at," Emma told her.

"She's being cautious?"

"She's using a fake name. I think that she is possibly still on the run from the law. But, Mal, I promise that I am not going to turn her in. If she comes with us, I'll see what I can do to get the charges dropped or lowered, or something. I just don't want you to get your hopes that she is coming back with us."

"I won't. But, you can't tell me to be happy. At least my daughter is alive and she is thinking about possibly coming to see me. That was more than I had thirty years ago, Emma. You've almost giving me my daughter back and for that I am grateful," Mal stated.

"There's more," Regina said.

"More? I'm a grandmother? What else could there be to tell me?" Mal questioned.

"No...well, I don't know. I haven't seen or heard anything about a child. And, honestly, Lily didn't offer up any thing about herself," Regina replied.

"So, what is it?" Maleficent asked getting obviously a little annoyed by the way the conversation was going.

"She doesn't know about Storybrooke, yet. Everyone there had an alternate persona during the first curse. Yours was unfortunately a dragon that lived under the library," Regina added.

"And?"

"Well, we've giving you a name and an occupation," Emma stated.

"Which are?"

"Emma came up with the name of Malanie Drake. It means..."

"Dark dragon, very clever, Sheriff," Mal cut Regina off. "It suits me to a degree. I kinda like it. So, what is it that I do?"

"I'm making you town historian. It means that you work for me. It will also mean that you work closely with Belle at the library."

"What would I be doing, exactly?" Maleficent inquired.

"You would help document things around town and pull things from the paper to make scrapbook like entries for historical record. It would mean that you help run the town website. If you're up for it, you should help them," Regina stated.

"I am not really a social character, Regina. You of all people should know that. But, I'll do whatever I have to do in order to see my daughter."

"Everyone has their part to do, Mal. I could have made you the eccentric psychic that lives on the edge of town reading palms, but I figured that it was just a little beneath you to do parlor tricks. Besides this way, you have a say in things about the history of our town. You will be literally working with me for the most part. If you want to make it a permanent position," Regina explained.

"Well, we'll see. I go to the library and see Belle. I'll have to get used to my name of Malanie Drake. Plus this will give me something to do."

"Just remember that you will have to make two histories," Regina stated.

"Two?" Emma and Mal both asked.

"Yes, a history for this world and the true history of all of us," Regina replied.

"One for the world and one for us characters, got it."

"And, Mal?"

"Yes, Emma?"

"Don't give up. We haven't. It's got to be a lot for her digest. I'm going to give her a few days to decide. Then, we'll come back with or without her. But, if it is without her, I'll make sure that she can at least write you. We can magically affect the address to make sure that you get it. I just hope..."

"I'll see you at the library on Friday with my daughter, Sheriff. Until then, Regina," Mal answered and hung up.

"What the..."

"That was her being optimistic, Emma."

"Well, could you both be a little less snarky sometimes or is that just something that comes with all the power of the magic you control?"

Regina shot her a look. Emma knew better than to push it. Instead, she called Henry.

"Hey, Kid," Emma said. "I need you and Belle to be prepared for Maleficent to come help you with the website...She's the new town historian...Yeah, I know...She'll be working mostly with Belle and your Mom...Don't worry. She isn't going to curse anyone. She knows that this might bring her daughter back to Storybrooke. She's learning to play well with others. And, if she can't get along with you two...That's right, Henry. We should be home by Friday night. Be good for Ruby and Mulan...You too, bud...Love you, too, Kid...I'll tell her...Now, go finish your work on Operation: Dragon."

Emma hung up the phone and looked at Regina. The darker woman was giving her a look and Emma knew that she'd screwed up. She hadn't let Regina talk to him.

"He's fine. He loves you. He misses us, but he's having fun working on the website. He was at the library with Belle. Red is supposed to picking him up for dinner at the diner and then take him home. He'd already finished his homework. He's fine. He's a good kid. You did good, Regina. I promise," Emma told her.

"I'm not worried about him," Regina replied.

"Then, who are you worried about?"

"Mal," she answered.


End file.
